Andre Pallante threw seven innings of two-run ball and struck out six in a win over the Padres on Tuesday.

Pallante won for the third time in three starts this month. At 8-4, he has two more victories in 14 starts this year than he did in 31 starts last season. The biggest change from then is that he’s getting more called strikes this season, allowing him to amass a decent 19 percent strikeout rate even though he’s still not generating a bunch of whiffs. He still doesn’t project as a mixed-league guy going forward, but he’s a big reason why the Cardinals are in postseason position at the moment.