(Photo credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images)

St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Andre Pallante's season has taken an ugly turn, resulting in an 0-5 record and a 9.82 ERA in August.

Pallante (6-12, 5.44 ERA overall) will try to finish the month on a better note Sunday afternoon when the Cardinals vie to complete a three-game sweep of the host Cincinnati Reds.

The Cardinals won 7-5 in 10 innings on Friday night and 4-2 on Saturday.

Pallante allowed eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits in five innings in his last start, an 8-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday. He has yielded 34 hits, including five homers and 11 walks, in 22 innings this month.

'I believe it's just the involvement of commanding my fastball better down in the zone,' Pallante said. 'When it's up, it gives them a chance to kind of shoot it the other way or hit the ball up in the air, especially the lefties, primarily because that's really where, I feel like, that's been the biggest decline in my game.'

Given the lack of viable options in their farm system, the Cardinals have little choice but to keep handing the ball to Pallante.

'I'm definitely frustrated,' the 26-year-old said. 'I want to be there. I want to give quality starts and good starts for the team. ... It's frustrating, but I'm working, doing the work I can and showing up each and every day, trying to improve myself and be better. That's all I can ask.'

Pallante pitched well in two starts against the Reds earlier this season, going 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA. Overall, he is 6-2 with a 1.93 ERA in 17 career appearances (seven starts) vs. them.

The Reds have lost five straight games and eight of their last nine to fade in the National League wild-card race. They will try to halt their slide by starting right-hander Brady Singer (11-9, 4.06) in the series finale.

In his last six starts, Singer has allowed just seven earned runs in 35 innings, and he has suffered poor run support in his earlier outings against St. Louis this season. He lost his previous two starts against them despite producing a 1.50 ERA.

Singer is 0-3 with a 3.00 ERA in three career starts against the Cardinals.

The Reds have fallen into a 4-for-37 rut while batting with runners in scoring position, dating to their series against the Los Angeles Dodgers last week.

'It's tough sledding right now; we have to fight through it,' Reds manager Terry Francona said after his team went 1-for-8 with RISP Saturday.

'Sometimes we -- myself included -- we try to get too big of a hit instead of just trying to hit the ball hard -- low, hard on the line,' third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes said after the Reds went 2-for-13 with RISP in Friday night's loss.

'The home runs and the doubles are going to come. As we keep going, we just have to figure out how to scratch those tough runs across whenever we have two outs. Stuff like that.'

--Field Level Media