ST. LOUIS — When it came to cooling one of the hottest teams in baseball on another of the hottest nights in St. Louis, Andre Pallante had the history and ability of keeping opponents like the Miami Marlins grounded.

But he didn’t limit himself to that.

Pallante was perfect his first time through Miami’s lineup, toyed with a no-hitter into the sixth inning, and did more than rely on ground-balls to pilot the Cardinals to a 7-1 victory Monday night at Busch Stadium. Pallante’s one-hitter ended a personal streak of four consecutive losing decisions with seven sterling and scoreless innings. He mixed groundouts and strikeouts and flyouts with equal aplomb. He leaned into the groundballs when the Marlins got a runner on base, but they so rarely did as he also struck out four.

The Marlins arrived at Busch having won four of their past five and claimed a series in Milwaukee against the division-leading Brewers. Miami has won four consecutive series, and before facing Pallante (6-7) the Marlins had won 19 of their previous 28 games.

Pitching the entirety of his outing with no more than a two-run lead, Pallante did not allow a Marlin to reach third base.

Alec Burleson backed Pallante’s outing with a solo homer and the gust of runs came later. Masyn Winn punctuated a five-run seventh with a three-run double, and the Cardinals’ shortstop finished the evening with three hits, including two doubles.

A paid-ticket crowd of 20,510 saw the rebound win from Sunday’s blah loss that split a series with San Diego as the trade deadline inches nearer.

No-hit bid snapped in 5th

The Cardinals’ leading ground-ball-getter didn’t rely entirely on ground-balls as he spun through five almost flawless innings against the visiting fish.

Pallante retired the first 10 Marlins he faced, and he did so with a democratic use of his defense. In the first inning alone, he got a groundout, a flyout, and a strikeout. He started the second inning with a fly-ball to left field – an otherwise routine moment in the game except for Ivan Herrera making his first career start out there. The former catcher and full-time designated hitter made the catch for the out, took in a deep breath, and grinned as he threw the ball back.

Pallante’s perfection would continue until the fourth inning.

Only a walk broke it up, and still Pallante kept mixing pitches for a variety of outs. He got a fly-ball for the first out, a groundout for the second out, and he finished the fourth inning with his third strikeout of the game.

Pallante’s no-hit bid would plunge into the sixth, and he got there with plenty of pitches to work with. The right-hander needed only 61 pitches to retire 15 of the first 16 batters he faced. When his 65th pitch floated over the head of an infielder for a flair single to end the no-hitter.

Pallante pressed on in familiar fashion.

Three groundouts and the inning was over.

Burleson powers to lead

A driving reason behind the Cardinals’ choice to start Herrera in left on Monday was not only Pallante’s penchant for ground-balls but also the wish to get Burleson a break.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol mentioned Monday afternoon that he’d like to alleviate some of the time in the outfield for Burleson, specifically, and that he wanted to use the DH as a break for several other players due to the heat. Burleson homered in Sunday’s finale against the Padres to narrow the deficit in an otherwise meh loss for the Cardinals. Starting at DH on Monday, he followed with a homer that pushed the Cardinals ahead while Pallante was flirting with perfection.

Burleson drove a ball to dead-center field for the second consecutive day.

His shot off Marlins starter Edward Cabrera traveled an estimated 411 feet.

Burleson socked a 417-foot homer on Sunday.

The pair gave Burleson 14 homers this season and moved him into the team lead for home runs with first baseman Willson Contreras. Burleson led the Cardinals in homers for a spell in 2024 before finishing one behind Paul Goldschmidt’s 22 for the team high.

Count Contreras in the group that Marmol plans to get a start at DH with Herrera in left field. In the lineups for upcoming games that Marmol has planned, Burleson will start at least once at first base, Herrera in left, and Contreras at DH, just to give Contreras a bit of a breather.

Pozo pounces on opportunity

While the first third of the game was only a one-run game, Pallante spent the middle third with a two-run lead thanks to some opportunistic baserunning by his catcher.

Yohel Pozo, a reliable bat for the Cardinals with a .295 average in the backup role, pulled a two-out double to left field in the fourth inning against Cabrera. A wild pitch skittered just away from Marlins’ catcher Agustin Ramirez, and Pozo took the chance to outrun the throw to third. Ramirez had a chance at Pozo — until he overcooked the throw and setting it high and soaring past third. The race was one. Pozo was able to reach home before any of the chasing Marlins fielders could retrieve the ball and challenge him with a throw.

Pozo’s aggressiveness netted a 2-0 lead.

That was the largest lead the Cardinals had during Pallante’s seven strong innings.

Cardinals pile on

Once Cabrera (4-5) left the game to the Marlins’ bullpen, the Cardinals’ offense stirred immediately.

Cabrera, a right-hander drawing the inevitable interest from teams looking for starters and controllable years, allowed only one earned run through his six innings. He struck out four and teased the Cardinals with three walks. He got one of his strikeouts on a 98-mph fastball, and a few innings later dropped a 94-mph changeup past Jordan Walker for a strikeout. That is the mix of pitches that the Marlins’ right-hander has at his fingertips, and the Cardinals connected for three extra-base hits, two of which became runs.

They had the same amount of extra-base hits in their first inning against relievers.

Victor Scott II sparked the seventh-inning rally with a double to center. He stole third. A parade of baserunners followed. Reliever Josh Simpson walked two more batters to load the bases. Burleson had a chance to really add to his RBIs, but his swing connected with Ramirez’s mitt for a catcher’s interference. That forced home a run and passed the bases-loaded opportunity to Winn.

The Cardinals’ shortstop pulled a deep fly-ball into the left-field corner and went racing for third base. He sent all of his teammates home and reached third for what could have left him with only a homer to get for the cycle. However, the ball pinballed off the wall and through left fielder Heriberto Hernandez’s legs for an error. Winn was awarded his second double of the game and three RBIs.

All of that came after Pallante’s final out.

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