Cardinals pitchers Jack Flaherty and Andrew Pallante combined to give up a five-run seventh inning as the Arizona Diamondbacks broke open what had been a tie game as the Cardinals lost their seventh of 11 home games this season.
Flaherty gave up the first run of the inning then exited the game with two men on base. Pallante later gave up a grand slam to Pavin Smith in a 6-3 loss to the Diamondbacks in the opening game of a three-game series in front of an announced crowd of 36,405 on Monday night at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals (7-10) have fallen to 2-3 on their current homestand with two game remaining.