The St. Louis Cardinals have built one of the better home-field advantages in the majors this season.
They will try to continue their run of good fortune on Sunday afternoon when they bid for a three-game sweep of the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Cardinals improved to 18-8 at home Saturday afternoon by rallying for a 6-5 victory. They won the series opener 4-3 on Friday.
“The crowd, they were into it,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said. “That’s what it’s supposed to sound like and these guys feed off of that. They are loving every second of it. (Friday) night was no different.
“Just hearing the crowd get into it, playing at home under those conditions, is a hell of a lot of fun.”
The Cardinals will turn to right-hander Sonny Gray (5-1, 4.02 ERA) to start the series finale. Gray is coming off one of his best outings of the season.
After allowing seven runs on eight hits (including three homers) over 3 2/3 innings to the Philadelphia Phillies on May 14 in a no-decision, Gibson blanked the Detroit Tigers for six innings on just three hits last Monday.
He struck out 10 batters and walked only one while re-establishing his array of fastballs in the 11-4 victory.
“I think I used them more early and I tried to put them in good spots and get back to my strengths with those pitches,” Gray said. “Getting back to my strengths with those [fastballs] allows me to get to the curveball, get to the sweeper and some of the other things I throw.
“Throwing my fastball in the right spots and with conviction — you do that enough and you can force the hitter’s hand to make a decision. But if you’re not putting them in the right spot, you’re not forcing their hand to make decisions as much.”
Gray will make his first start against the Diamondbacks since 2015, when he allowed four runs (two earned) in 6 1/3 innings of a 6-4 loss.
Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras missed his second straight game with back spasms Saturday, and Marmol was hopeful that he will return for the series finale.
The Diamondbacks will turn to right-hander Brandon Pfaadt (7-3, 3.81) as they try to snap a four-game losing streak.
Pfaadt has met the quality start metric six times this season, including his most recent outing — a 9-5 victory over the Dodgers in Los Angeles on Monday. He allowed three solo homers in that game, but just one other baserunner during his six innings.
“Were able to just attack the zone,” he said. “(Three) homers, but that’s OK, because we had the lead and we were just attacking guys.”
Pfaadt earned his second victory against the powerful Dodgers in a span of 11 days.
“It’s no easy task to pitch against that lineup twice,” Arizona pitching coach Brian Kaplan said. “I thought he competed really well. Obviously, ran out a little bit of steam there late, but threw the ball well, attacked the guys, mixed early, got some weak contact.
“Later on they start seeing, see him away a little bit, sitting soft, made some more contact, but he put together a quality start.”
Pfaadt is 0-0 with a 6.35 ERA in two career starts against the Cardinals.
–Field Level Media
