Cardinals secure split of series with Rockies

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Cardinals posted a strong effort in all three phases of the game on Sunday afternoon, earning a 5-1 win over the Rockies to clinch a split of their four-game series.

St. Louis scored five unanswered runs in the first eight innings of action. Pedro Pagés put the Redbirds on the scoreboard 1-0 in the second inning with a sacrifice fly, and then, Alec Burleson doubled the team's lead in the third frame with his ninth home run of the season. One inning later, rookie Masyn Winn recorded his 22nd and 23rd RBIs of the season by driving in two runs on an RBI single. Finally, the Cardinals added one more run on a fielder's choice and throwing error by the Rockies to make it a 5-0 game in the sixth inning.

The Redbirds posted 10 hits as a team, five more than the visiting Rockies. Winn and Nolan Arenado led the charge at the plate with two hits each while six of their teammates tallied one hit.

Andre Pallante silenced Colorado's bats for all five of his innings on the mound. The right-hander gave up only three hits and recorded six strikeouts to earn the win. Matthew Liberatore and Ryan Fernandez tossed a combined 2.2 innings of hitless baseball out of the bullpen while John King allowed one run over his 1.1 innings of work.

St. Louis also made some strides on defense in Sunday's game. No Cardinals committed an error in the contest after the team posted four of them in just the last two games alone.

Up next - the Redbirds have a day off before hosting the Pirates at Busch Stadium on Tuesday, June 11. The three-game set between St. Louis and Pittsburgh is scheduled to start at 6:45 p.m.