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The Cincinnati Reds used all three of starter Andre Pallante’s walks to generate runs for a 6-2 victory against the Cardinals on Wednesday afternoon at Busch Stadium. Reds first baseman Spencer Steer crushed a three-homer in the fourth inning to give Cincinnati the lead after two teammates walked, and he added a two-out single late to punctuate a five-RBI game.

The Cardinals (74-79) lost for the seventh time in nine games.

They were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position before the ninth inning.

The Cardinals also dropped their third consecutive series while the Reds (76-76) returned to .500 and remained within earshot of the third National League wild-card berth. The Cardinals open their final home series of the regular season Friday when they host Milwaukee, and they’ll need to go at least 7-2 in their final nine games to avoid a losing record.

Reds starter Brady Singer (14-10) limited the Cardinals to one earned run on three hits through his 5 2/3 innings. He struck out six, two of them with a runner in scoring position. Singer allowed a first-inning solo homer to Alec Burleson, but in the fourth inning, he caught Burleson trying to steal third. That interrupted one of the Cardinals’ attempted rallies.

Pallante (6-15) allowed four runs on six hits in five innings.

The Reds widened their lead in the seventh with a timely flare to right.

Two runs scored on Steer’s two-out fly ball that dropped into a no man’s land and made the most out of a pair of hits off Cardinals reliever Matt Svanson. The Cardinals had spent most of the game trailing by no more than two runs before Steer added to his RBI binge.

Pallante invites trouble

All of the runs Pallante allowed in his penultimate start of the regular season involved 90 feet that he gave away without the hitter or base runner taking it.

Pallante piloted a 1-0 lead into the fourth inning.

When the Cardinals staked him to it, the right-hander responded strongly with a 12-pitch, three-up, three-down second inning. He was able to pitch around two base hits in the third inning to keep the Reds scoreless. It was only when he put Reds on base that the Cardinals’ lead wobbled and capsized. Pallante walked back-to-back Reds with one out in the fourth inning. Elly De La Cruz, demoted in the lineup and searching at the plate, got Pallante to a full count in the fourth — and then took a walk.

That was the prelude to Steer’s three-run homer that flipped that game.

Pallante had erased any trouble from the three hits he'd allowed before Steer’s hit, but the walks proved more costly.

In the fifth inning, Cincinnati added to its lead with a mix against Pallante.

Two singles from the top of the order put the inning in motion. Pallante then got two quick outs before falling behind to rookie third baseman Sal Stewart. He walked Stewart to load the bases. A wild pitch during the next at-bat — with De La Cruz at the plate — and a Reds runner came scampering home for a 4-1 lead.

Of the runs Pallante allowed, three of them could be traced back to a walk, one of them to a wild pitch that followed the walk.

Burly pop

The Cardinals’ everyday first baseman for the remainder of the season, Burleson picked up with the power usually provided by that position.

Burleson put the Cardinals ahead in the first inning with a solo home run. His 18th homer of the season puts him two shy of joining usual first baseman Willson Contreras as the Cardinals’ 20-homer hitters for the season.

Contreras went on the injured list Wednesday due to a biceps strain that the Cardinals do not want to turn into a more significant tear or more severe shoulder injury. That frees up first base for Burleson most of the time and perhaps a start here or there for Nolan Gorman.

Of all the young players given playing time this season, some may have matched but none have done better than Burleson to assert a place with the 2026 Cardinals.

Burleson improved defensively in the outfield to make playing him there regularly possible, and he has remained solid when asked to play first base. While other Cardinals have had their breakout moments — Brendan Donovan’s first All-Star appearance, Ivan Herrera’s .283 average at designated hitter — Burleson has been the most consistent of the Cardinals’ youngest players. He improved his team-best .285 average with the homer and double Wednesday.

His 66 RBIs trail only Contreras’ 80 on the team.

Dial 411

Here’s the information on the two home runs that shaped the first half of Wednesday’s game and ultimately the final score.

Burleson’s solo shot traveled 411 feet. He hit a 1-2 sinker that left Singer’s fingers at 92.9 mph and came off Burleson’s bat at 107.6 mph.

In the fourth inning, Steer answered with a home run to center field that also traveled an estimated 411 feet. After two walks by Pallante, Steer jumped on the first pitch he saw — a 95.2 mph four-seam fastball. The ball left his bat at 106.1 mph and sizzled to center for the three-run homer that put the Reds ahead for good.

If in Cincinnati

There are three ballparks where the ball that left Jordan Walker’s bat in the fifth inning would have changed the score, and one of them the Reds call home.

Used to running out of real estate at Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati right fielder Noelvi Marti had plenty of room to meet Walker’s line drive that left the bat with a chance to alter the look of the game. With Jimmy Crooks on second and a three-run deficit on the scoreboard, Walker tagged a pitch from Singer that left his bat at 102.1 mph.

It had the right angle and right distance for a two-run homer.

If, that is, he was in Cincinnati.

Or if the game had been at Yankee Stadium or at the Yankees’ Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida, where the Rays are subleasing this season. The ball traveled an estimated 366 feet, and while that’s a home run in three other places, it’s called something else at Busch.

A fly out.