The Cardinals withstood a furious late rally to defeat the Astros 7-5 at Daikin Park, holding on after Houston pulled within three runs in the ninth inning. St. Louis built what appeared to be a comfortable lead through seven innings before the Astros mounted their desperate comeback attempt.
Andre Pallante earned the victory with five innings of work, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out five. The right-hander carried a 4.50 ERA into the contest and scattered three walks but kept Houston's offense largely in check through the middle innings.
The Cardinals established control early when Nolan Gorman singled to right in the first inning, bringing home Ivan Herrera and scoring another run on a fielding error. St. Louis extended the lead with power, as Masyn Winn homered to left in the third inning, scoring Gorman to make it 4-1. Jose Fermin and Alec Burleson added solo home runs in the sixth and seventh innings respectively, building the margin to 6-1.
Lance McCullers absorbed the loss, surrendering four earned runs over five innings with four strikeouts. The Houston starter carried a 6.20 ERA and struggled with command, walking three batters while allowing the Cardinals to take early control. Shay Whitcomb's three-run homer in the ninth inning brought the tying run to the plate, but Riley O'Brien secured his sixth save to preserve the victory.
St. Louis extended its winning streak to three games and improved to 11-8, while Houston dropped to 8-13 with its second consecutive loss. Jose Altuve remains four games away from 2,000 career games played.