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No, they’re reaching for a spyglass.

ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ want to see what’s down the route, off in the distance.

The Cardinals’ offense lagged behind them on the first day of this brief jaunt to Great American Ball Park and they lost, 3-1, to the host Cincinnati Reds on Monday. The Cardinals were quick off the line for a run in the first inning and then idled from there, bouncing into three double plays and failing to bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning. They lost their 12th game in their first 14 away from home, and the past eight consecutive road losses have been by three or fewer runs.

That is the frame through which they want to see the game – not just for the result on the scoreboard, but for the “growth� on the roster.

“We’re in every game, and when you think about what this year is about, being in every game means something,� manager Oliver Marmol said, agreeing that in 2023 the club had several games it was not close to being in. “We got straight-up waxed at times. And then you see a difference in the dugout – a little more deflated, not a whole lot of push back. In order to stay in a lot of these games, you’re still having to execute at a high level.

“We’re in a lot of these games because they’re taking steps in the right direction.�

Not enough of those steps were in the direction of home plate Monday night. But each trip away from home has brought some measure of improvement for the Cardinals and their focus on player development. Somewhere after Nolan Arenado’s RBI double in the first inning for a lead and around another double play on Reds starter Nick Martinez’s final pitch to secure his first win of the season, the Cardinals saw notable advancements.

Here are three that stood out as the road riddle rambles on:

1. Andre Pallante

One of the greediest groundout-getters in the game, Pallante has always thrived against Cincinnati and found Great American Small Park less combustible than his flyball brethren. He keeps the Reds on the ground with the sink on one of his fastballs, and he felt at some point in Monday’s start a familiar look return.

Pallante shifted himself slightly on the pitching rubber to get a new angle at home plate and greater extension – he felt – on his pitches.

“A little closer to the catcher,� he said.

The result was a slight uptick in his four-seam fastball (up 0.6 mph) and a significant burst of speed in his slider/cutter (up 2.4 mph). The added velocity allowed him to be more aggressive with the slider and also lure more Reds toward it when it was under the zone. The hop in the fastball gave him access to the upper levels of the strike zone as well. Five of his nine swings and misses came on the slider, four on the sinker. On those two pitches, the Reds only got eight balls in play.

Three of the six hits Pallante (2-2) allowed in his six innings came from Reds outfielder Gavin Lux. He singled and scored on a triple to break a 1-1 tie in the fourth inning. Lux doubled in the Reds’ third run to extend the lead in the sixth. Those weren’t the hits that frustrated Pallante.

“I gave in to the wrong guy,� he said. “Didn’t stay competitive to the right guy.�

Behind in the count to start the third inning, Pallante challenged Jose Trevino with a 92.7-mph fastball, and Trevino tied the game with a solo homer. An inning later, Pallante was again behind in the count, and after three consecutive breaking balls did not stick with that approach against Noelvi Marte. Another fastball, another extra-base hit. Marte tagged a four-seam fastball and split the left-center gap for the triple that scored the decisive run.

Pallante said what he could have done better was already on his mind before he left the ballpark, and what he did well in the start gave him that direction.

In the right way.

“That’s what you want to see out of him – continue to grow,� Marmol said. “The way he attacked today was awesome to see. You definitely want to score some runs for him there.�

2. Jordan Walker

In batting practice ahead of Monday’s game, outfielder Jordan Walker and hitting coach Brant Brown focused on taking pitches to right field. The goal was to keep Walker from rushing open with his shoulder and pulling himself away from the pitches opponents are throwing to him over and over and over and over and over again until he adjusts.

Walker entered Monday’s game in a 4-for-38 plummet. He’s hit .162 this season against right-handed pitching and .114 with only singles in 44 at-bats on the road.

The goal in BP was to drill pitches the opposite way, to right-center.

Stay in by lining out.

“One of the better ones I saw,� Marmol said of Walker’s BP.

“(In) BP, took a lot of swings the opposite way to stay on that slider,� Walker said.

Leading off the second inning, Walker saw three sliders – each of them going away and down from him. Two of them were out of the zone. Walker swung and missed one to fall behind 1-2 in the count. When Martinez went back to the same pitch but not as far from the strike zone, Walker found it off. For the fifth pitch of the at-bat, Martinez dropped a curve on Walker. A pitch he would have missed earlier this season or previously, Walker roped up the middle for a single. His focus on driving the slider to right-center yielded a curve he hit to center.

“He rode that one out,� Marmol said. “Let’s hope that he stays there.�

The inning fizzled after Walker’s leadoff single with the first of three double plays Martinez coaxed. Walker grounded out to first base in the fourth inning – again going toward right field with where the pitch took him. In the fifth, Pedro Pages led off with a double. The first two Cardinals of the inning got on base against Martinez, and another rally stalled on the road.

Trevino made a superb play on a bunt for one out, and Elly De La Cruz spun a double play on the next groundball to end the inning.

“You’re hoping for a crooked number there, especially the way (Lars Nootbaar’s) been swinging it, top of the lineup, you feel good,� Marmol said. “We kind of took some decelerated swings at times and put balls in paly and that led to multiple outs on one swing.�

A direction, true to the purpose or the season, to improve.

3. Bullpen

Once Pallante departed his start, the score did not get worse in large part because the Cardinals bullpen has gotten better.

Undone during the previous road trip with four of the six losses, the bullpen held the score it inherited Monday and did not give the offense more ground to make up. John King got the pivotal out that made that possible in the seventh inning. Walker helped by turning a lineout to right field into a double play at first base, and King controlled the rest. The lefty got De La Cruz to skip into a groundout that ended the inning and stranded two Reds. King retired four of the five batters he faced to finish the game.

That kept the deficit at two for the Cardinals entering the ninth.

They did not get the tying run to the plate, let alone in scoring position.

They took no steps in the direction of second.

They did take steps.

“That’s the lens as a staff that we have to look at it,� Marmol said. “How Pallante looked. Jordan Walker – that single up the middle, him staying through the baseball, not cutting it off. You’re taking positives out of that. You want to score more runs and take the W.�