By WARREN MAYES Associated Press
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Alec Burleson homered, Masyn Winn drove in two runs and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Colorado Rockies 5-1 on Sunday for a split in the teams’ four-game series.
“If we stick to it and keep playing our kind of baseball, we should be good,” Winn said. “I mean, it’s Cardinals baseball; we should be good. We’ve got a lot of good players. Once we start putting things together, I mean like today. It was real clean. Great pitching. Great hitting. Great defense. If we do that every day, we’ll be in a good spot. We just have to compete every day.”
Rookie catcher Pedro Pagés knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly, singled and scored twice for the Cardinals, who won for just the third time in 10 games.
“It was a big day for me for sure,” the 25-year-old Pagés said. “I’ve got to keep working and keep battling. I’m here to do that.”
The Rockies lost for the ninth time in 11 games.
Andre Pallante (2-2, 6.16 ERA) won for the second straight time in making his third consecutive start in Steven Matz’s spot in the rotation since moving up from Triple-A Memphis. He threw 68 pitches in five innings, allowing three hits and no runs.
“I feel like I attacked the zone more,” Pallante said. “I’m working on trusting more what I do. The big thing I’ve been focusing on is not thinking about that stuff like what the team needs or where the team is at. The only thing I can control is the pitch I’m making. I try to tune everything else out.”
Colorado’s Ty Blach (2-4) pitched five innings in his sixth start since joining the rotation on May 12 after making three relief appearances. He gave up four runs on eight hits.
“It was kind of one of those days where it just didn’t quite go our way,” Blach said. “I think the guys have done a good job the last several days here.”
St. Louis took a 1-0 lead in the second. Dylan Carlson hit a leadoff double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Pagés.
“Getting that sac fly and giving the team the lead was huge for me,” said Pagés, who entered the game hitting .050. “It gave me confidence, especially with my confidence being down a little lately because of my performance.”
The Cardinals doubled their lead in the third when Burleson led off with a home run to right field that Greg Jones just missed catching as it cleared the wall.
“It was screaming at us stick with him because this guy can hit,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of Burleson. “What he does well is making contact.”
A two-out single by Winn scored Brendan Donovan and Pagés, giving St. Louis a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning.
“I wanted to make contact,” said Winn. “I didn’t make contact in my first two at-bats. I didn’t like those at-bats. I was locked in. It happened to be a changeup and I dumped it over the shortstop’s head. It was pretty nice.”
Winn’s hit was the turning point, Colorado manager Bud Black said.
“The backbreaker for me was the soft single from Winn,” Black said. “He had a good series. I’m impressed by their young shortstop.”
A throwing error by Ezequiel Tovar in the sixth while trying to complete a double play allowed Pagés to score for a 5-0 advantage.
The Rockies scored their run in the ninth on a one-out single by Elias Díaz, who finished with two hits.
TRANSACTIONS
Rockies: Recalled INF Adael Amador from Double-A Hartford. Amador made his MLB debut Sunday. He started at second base and batted eighth in series finale. He is rated as the No. 1 prospect in the Rockies’ farm system and is the No. 32 prospect in baseball. In his first at-bat, he singled and then stole second base.
TRAINERS ROOM
Rockies: 2B Brendan Rodgers (left hamstring strain) was placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 8. He got hurt running out a ground ball in the top of the fourth inning of Friday’s game.
Cardinals: RHP Giovanny Gallegos (right shoulder impingement) will make a rehab appearance Tuesday at Double-A Springfield.
UP NEXT
Rockies: RHP Dakota Hudson (2-7, 5.25) faces Twins RHP Chris Paddock (4-3, 5.26) on Monday. Hudson is 2-4 with a 3.41 ERA with 13 walks and 18 strikeouts in six road starts.
Cardinals: Off Monday. RHP Miles Mikolas (4-6, 5.32) faces visiting Pittsburgh RHP Paul Skenes (3-0, 3.00) on Tuesday. He has appeared against the Pirates more than any other team in his career and will be making his 22nd appearance and 18th start.
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