Cardinals 8, Reds 1: Torres Homers in Debut as Pallante Spins Six in DH Opener

The lead

May 23, 2026 - Cincinnati - The St. Louis Cardinals opened a day-night doubleheader with an 8-1 rout of the Cincinnati Reds in the makeup of Friday's rainout at Great American Ball Park, as Bryan Torres homered in his major league debut at age 28, Jordan Walker added a two-run shot, and Andre Pallante allowed one run on two hits over six innings, per the Associated Press recap on CBS Sports.

Pallante retired his final 13 batters and Cincinnati was held to two hits, both in the first two innings. The Cardinals piled up 12 hits and scored in five separate innings on a humid afternoon before the nightcap flipped the venue to a different pitching matchup.

How the game turned

Nathaniel Lowe gave Cincinnati a brief 1-0 lead with a first-inning homer off Pallante. St. Louis answered in the third when Alec Burleson singled home a run and Walker hit into a run-scoring forceout. A run in the fourth extended the lead before Walker crushed his 15th homer of the season—a two-run drive in the seventh off Connor Phillips that made it 5-1.

Torres capped the story in the ninth with a two-run homer to right-center on a fastball from Jose Franco, finishing 2-for-4 with a walk in a debut that followed a long minor league and independent-league path. Victor Scott II had three hits to pace a lineup that never let the Reds back into the opener.

Pitching and matchup notes

Pallante (5-4) struck out three, walked one, and needed just 93 pitches to complete six frames. Ryan Stanek, Genesis Soriano, and Matt Svanson covered the final three innings without allowing a run.

Chris Paddack (0-6) took the loss with three runs on seven hits and three walks in five innings. Cincinnati's offense went quiet after Lowe's early homer—the kind of start AthX Engine rewards when paired with crooked Cardinal innings.

Bats that changed the board

Walker drove in multiple runs and matched the club's power surge from the first game of the twin bill. Burleson and Scott II supplied the contact volume; Torres supplied the narrative with a debut homer after singling earlier in the game.

For the Reds, Lowe's solo shot accounted for the only run and much of the limited traffic against Pallante.

AthX Engine fantasy angle

AthX Engine logged St. Louis at 22 team FP for the full doubleheader day—the opener's share of that total came from Pallante's 18 pitching FP and Walker's 13 hitting FP. A makeup game that still moves the daily leaderboard is a reminder that AthX Engine scoring tracks calendar dates, not narrative convenience—and that daily totals are distinct from dynamic pricing.

What comes next

Game 2 of the doubleheader sent Kyle Leahy (5-3, 3.94 ERA) against Chase Petty (0-0, 4.76 ERA). Cincinnati rallied to win that nightcap 7-6 in 11 innings, splitting the day.

*Sources: MLB.com schedule, MLB game story, CBS Sports recap, ESPN scoreboard, AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*