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Almost as unexpected as the left fielder out there to catch it was the fly ball headed his way.

In the top of the second inning Monday at Busch Stadium against noted ground-ball guru Andre Pallante, a right-handed batter for the Miami Marlins did what few batters do and pulled a pitch from Pallante in the air to deep left field. Out there, as far from the dugout as he鈥檚 ever been on a baseball field and wearing a glove he borrowed from a teammate, was the Cardinals鈥� opening day catcher and usual designated hitter: Ivan Herrera.

Upon contact, the pitch wasn鈥檛 the only thing that soared.

鈥淚 saw the ball,鈥� Herrera said. 鈥淎nd one second after, my heart rate went to the sky.鈥�

Herrera did what coach Jon Jay instructed him to do 鈥� go back first, and he did with such certainty that Pallante later said he thought the ball was 鈥�30 rows deep.鈥� It wasn鈥檛. Herrera went back to come forward, make the catch and heave both the ball and a deep sigh. Herrera made his debut in left field Monday because the Cardinals expected with Pallante on the mound and the Marlins at the plate, there would be balls in play and outs galore on the ground.

They were half-right.

There were balls in play 鈥� and outs everywhere.

And somewhere in there is the answer to Pallante鈥檚 search for consistency.

鈥淗ad some hard-hit balls at guys, and that鈥檚 just part of it,鈥� the right-hander said. 鈥淜ind of evening out over what feels like the last couple of weeks. Stayed on the attack.鈥�

Pallante limited the Marlins to one hit through seven scoreless innings. He took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before a flair single produced Miami鈥檚 second of two base runners against him. The Cardinals let loose a torrent runs in the seventh thanks to a bases-clearing double by Masyn Winn, and they won, 7-1. But Pallante (6-7) spent the entirety of his start with, at most, a two-run lead, and he was expedient in collecting outs from Miami. Pallante ended a streak of four consecutive losses by challenging a team that sees the fewest pitches in the majors per plate appearance, at 3.73.

It was a hand-in-glove matchup for the right-hander.

The team eager to put the ball in play met a pitcher who was happy to let them and watch his defense spin those balls in play into outs.

Pallante took seven pitches to get the first three outs, and he retired the first 10 Marlins he faced on 39 pitches. He had thrown 61 pitches to get 15 outs from 16 batters, and he lost the no-hitter on his 65th pitch. Pallante finished a perfect seventh with six pitches. He got 21 outs on 82 pitches.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just a lost easier than throwing 50 pitches in an inning,鈥� he said.

鈥淭hey attempted to not be on the ground at times, but it was still not a whole lot of barrels,鈥� manager Oliver Marmol said. 鈥淗e did a nice job of navigating that lineup. I felt like there was more conviction behind what he was doing. ... Figured out a way to get outs. I did like the overall determination, what he brought to the table. There was a different look to what he was doing.鈥�

But how much of the different result was batted-ball fortune 鈥� and how can Pallante bend his knack for contact toward more consistency?

That鈥檚 the question for the right-hander and so many others in the Cardinals rotation, including new addition Michael McGreevy, as they try to exploit their meek-contact skills but not rely solely on the bouncing ball finding a glove to have success.

鈥淚t is a pitch-to-contact rotation, and we don鈥檛 face a lot of those, it feels like,鈥� said Winn, who had three hits, two doubles and three RBIs on Monday. 鈥淲e face a lot of strikeout guys. Strikeouts are what you want for sure. Strikeouts are what win games, I think. Tarik Skubal wins a lot of games. If Paul Skenes had a little bit better offense, he鈥檇 be damn near undefeated. Having a guy like that is always huge. Pitch to contact 鈥� we know we鈥檝e got to play good defense to win.鈥�

In his second season establishing himself as a starter, Pallante isn鈥檛 going to reinvent himself as a whiff-master. Ground outs are his game.

But he sees a spot to limit the fluctuations of his results.

It came up only a few times Monday.

The Cardinals right-hander was downright democratic in the 鈥淏ull Durham鈥� sense with his outs. In the first inning, he got a putout for his first baseman, his catcher and right fielder. In the fourth inning, around the four-pitch walk that snapped his perfect run, Pallante got a fly out, a ground out and a strikeout. He got 10 called strikes, 11 swinging strikes, 10 pitches fouled off and 10 ground outs. Pallante got ahead of only 12 of the 23 batters he faced, but he got an out in three or fewer pitches from 11 of them. Twice in the first inning, he got an out on one or two pitches. The other out came on one of his four strikeouts and in the spot he identified 鈥� getting quickly to an 0-2 or 1-2 count.

鈥淲hen I have guys in two-strike counts, get my strikeouts,鈥� Pallante said. 鈥淒on鈥檛 allow the ball in play if I get to two strikes. I鈥檓 still not doing a great job of that. I鈥檓 doing a much worse job this year than last year. That鈥檚 the biggest thing. When you have the opportunity to strike guys out, try not to allow them back in the count to put that ball in play. On top of that is not throwing the pitches they鈥檙e going to hit hard. Know where the weak contact is, where their low launch angle is and being able to attack that.鈥�

Two-strike counts do show a shift in his seasons.

A year ago, in only four more innings, Pallante held batters to a .091 average in an 0-2 count with only singles. This season, they鈥檙e batting .158 and slugging .421. After an 0-2 count, opponents had a .176 slugging percentage last season, and they鈥檙e batting .173 this season with a .333 slugging percentage. The difference becomes starker in all plate appearances with two strikes. Opponents hit .148 a year ago with a .205 slugging percentage. This year, they鈥檙e hitting .178 with a .314 slugging percentage going into Monday鈥檚 start.

Pallante got to a two-strike count in 224 at-bats last season and struck out 94 for a 42% rate. This season, in almost the same amount of innings, he鈥檚 had 33 fewer at-bats with two strikes, and his strikeout rate in them has dipped to 37.7%.

Want to reduce the influence of batted-ball luck?

Reduce the batted balls.

鈥淚 knew that if I commit and execute the pitch I鈥檓 throwing,鈥� Pallante said of facing the eager Marlins, 鈥淚 would get good results.鈥�

He also had more he could do against them. As the Marlins tried to elevate his ground-ball-getting pitches, Pallante can elevate his fastball for more swings and misses, he said. It is something he can 鈥渓ean on鈥� against right-handed batters. The one time Pallante got into a 0-2 count on Monday, he tried to spin his way to a strikeout and missed with a 0-2 curveball and a 1-2 slider. He got the fly out on a sinker.

The one base hit he allowed led off the sixth, and it came on the fourth pitch of the at-bat. Behind in the count, Pallante left a four-seamer up and over the plate. It was not meant to be up for the batter to swing under and miss, Pallante acknowledged.

鈥淚f I get that down,鈥� he said, 鈥渋t鈥檚 a ground out.鈥�

If he can get to two strikes, he wants that to be where there鈥檚 a strikeout.