ST. LOUIS — For as quiet as the Cardinals’ lineup had been coming out of the All-Star break, it looked as if their Saturday showing would have some similar silence after a chance to rattle off multiple runs in the first inning ended with one run to show for it.

The Cardinals had their first two batters reach base against Reds starter Hunter Greene and pushed across their first run with a single from Alec Burleson, the third hitter they sent up to start the game. That run was all they could muster in the opening inning, and Burleson’s single was one of two hits they produced through five innings against Cincinnati’s hard-throwing righty.

That was until a walk opened up the offense in the sixth inning.

Donning their victory blue jerseys at home for just the second time in franchise history, the Cardinals popped off for six runs in the sixth inning to storm past the Reds for a 7-0 win at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals produced 10 hits in total, five of which came in their sixth inning that began with an at-bat from JJ Wetherholt and ended with an at-bat from Wetherholt.

The six-run inning forced Greene from his start after 5 1/3 innings and included RBIs from four different Cardinals. Among them was Ivan Herrera’s two-run double that marked one of two hits from the Cardinals’ All-Star who has had a sluggish start to the second half of the season.

The Cardinals’ seven runs were their most in a game since July 19. They had scored three or fewer runs in five of eight games since the All-Star break ended. The emphatic inning helped the Cardinals to their third win since the break. It provided the run support for starter Andre Pallante’s best outing of his turnaround season.

What began with a first inning that included a pair of strikeouts on his knuckle curve shaped up to an outing for the Cardinals right-hander that matched a season high for innings with seven and strikeouts with eight. The outing was Pallante’s longest scoreless outing of the year and shrunk his ERA to 3.77 over 112 1/3 innings across 20 starts.

He scattered two hits and a walk across his seven frames. Only one Reds base runner reached second base against Pallante, and that came on a stolen base by JJ Bleday in the fourth inning after Bleday singled.

The two innings Pallante left for the bullpen were covered by right-hander Gordon Graceffo.

There’s the offense

After the Cardinals collected a pair of hits on Jordan Walker and Burleson’s singles in the first inning, all they could produce against the Reds righty after that was a hustle double in the third inning from Walker.

Walker’s double snapped a stretch of seven consecutive batters retired by Greene. What followed was another stretch of seven consecutive Cardinals hitters retired by Greene before Wetherholt led off the sixth inning with a walk.

The walk opened an inning filled with runs.

Following Wetherholt’s leadoff walk, the Cardinals had six of the next seven hitters they sent to the plate reach base with either a hit or a walk. The constant contact included hits from Burleson, Herrera, Masyn Winn, Bryan Torres and Blaze Jordan. Jordan’s two-run single chopped past first baseman Sal Stewart and plated two runs and marked the final batter Greene faced.

The only batter who was retired by Greene in the sixth inning was Walker, who popped out into foul territory. The Reds did not record a second out until No. 9 hitter Nathan Church dropped a successful sacrifice bunt to drive in a run against reliever Sam Moll.

Getting whiffy with it

Pallante, one of the top ground-ball getters across the league, saw swings and misses help him through his most effective start of the season.

The right-hander, who entered Saturday with a whiff rate of 20.3%, collected 15 whiffs and had a 35% whiff rate on the evening, per Statcast. Pallante’s slider led the way with eight whiffs. His knuckle curve, which was the put-away pitch on half of his strikeouts, followed behind with four whiffs. He also got whiffs on his four-seam fastball and sinker. The only inning during which Pallante did not record a strikeout was the third.

Settling for one

Cincinnati shortstop Elly De La Cruz’s misplays in the first inning opened the door for the Cardinals to give themselves the offensive lift they’ve looked for of late. De La Cruz mishandled a weak grounder by Wetherholt that led to an error and misread a flare from Walker that allowed Walker’s soft contact to land for a single into shallow left field.

The early chance was taken advantage of by Burleson, who singled to left field to score Wetherholt and keep runners on first and second base with no outs. But that’s where the first inning rally ended.

A strikeout and double play ball were the cause.

Held to four hits in 30 at-bats since the All-Star break ended, catcher Herrera saw five pitches from starter Greene. He fouled off a 97.2-mph sinker thrown over the middle of the plate in a 1-1 count and earned a fifth pitch by fouling back a 98.5-mph fastball to earn a fifth pitch.

He swung and missed on a slider to end his at-bat on five pitches.

Lars Nootbaar worked himself into a 2-1 count by taking a 97.3-mph fastball for a ball and a splitter on back-to-back pitches. Nootbaar was offered a 96.6-mph fastball located near the top of the strike zone and hammered to second base to begin an inning-ending double play.

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