HOUSTON — Alec Burleson and Nolan Gorman each homered for the third consecutive game on Tuesday night, but it wasn’t enough to get the Cardinals a victory.
Andre Pallante allowed six runs over three innings that carried the Astros to their second win in a row in Houston.
Burleson homered in the first inning and Gorman hit a leadoff homer in the seventh, and according to Baseball Reference, became the first Cardinals teammates to each hit a home run in the same three consecutive games.
The loss was the fourth by the Cardinals in their last five games.
Here is how Tuesday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: Masyn Winn also hit a home run in his native Houston, a two-run shot in the sixth that pulled the Cardinals within 7-4 … After Gorman’s 14th homer of the year in the seventh, the Cardinals loaded the bases with two outs but Brendan Donovan took a called third strike to end the threat … Winn was 3-of-3 in the game, and also reached on a walk and stole a base … Ivan Herrera hit a pair of doubles, drew a walk and scored twice … The Cardinals were just 2-of-11 with runners in scoring position … They are now 1-3 this season when hitting three or four home runs … Nolan Arenado was 0-of-4 and is 5-of-28 on the road trip, a . 179 average.
On the mound: After throwing six shutout innings last week in his first start in Cincinnati, Pallante allowed two runs in the first inning and four in the third, the big blow a three-run homer by Yainer Diaz … Pallante only retired nine of the 19 hitters he faced, needing 75 pitches to get the nine outs … Kyle Leahy allowed one run in 2 2/3 innings and the Astros scored their final run off Ryan Fernandez in the seventh.
Key stat: The home run for Burleson was his eighth of the season, coming in his 171st at-bat. That matched his total for last season, accomplished in 315 at-bats.
Worth noting: Giovanny Gallegos pitched an inning for Memphis on Tuesday night on a rehab assignment, allowing three hits, two of which were solo home runs, and also walked one and was charged with the loss in the game in Omaha … A second opinion confirmed that the other righthanded reliever the Cardinals had counted on this season, Keynan Middleton, will need season-ending surgery on the flexor tendon in his right arm. Middleton was hurt in spring training and reinjured his arm during a minor-league rehab assignment … The Cardinals swapped relief pitchers before Tuesday night’s game, optioning Ryan Loutos to Memphis and bringing back Chris Roycroft, who worked a scoreless eighth inning … The Cardinals committed two more errors, both by Gorman.
Looking ahead: Miles Mikolas will get the start on Wednesday in a 1:10 p.m. game that will conclude the series and the nine-game road trip.
Follow Rob Rains on X @RobRains.
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