Andre Pallante retired 17 of the last 18 batters he faced over seven strong innings and Lars Nootbaar hit a tiebreaking two-run double in the fourth inning, leading the St. Louis Cardinals past the Minnesota Twins 6-1 on Friday night.
Brendan Donovan homered, Masyn Wynn had two RBIs and Luken Baker drew three of nine walks by the Cardinals, who won their third straight game after falling a season-high 12 games behind NL Central leader Milwaukee on Tuesday.
Pallante (6-6) completed seven innings for the second consecutive start, a career first for the 25-year-old.
He left the bases loaded after one run scored with one out in the second inning and never let another runner reach scoring position to send the Twins to their fourth loss in their last five games.
Minnesota began a nine-game homestand by falling one game behind Kansas City and into third place in the AL Central, two games behind leader Cleveland. The Twins lead Boston by 3 1/2 games for the final wild card spot.
Pallante, with his unorthodox windup featuring a hitch and a leg kick before a deliberate and reared-back delivery, gave up five hits and two walks with five strikeouts. Trevor Larnach fanned in all three at-bats and Royce Lewis went 0 for 3 with three broken bats against him.
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