Nolan Gorman and Victor Scott II each hit a home run as the visiting St. Louis Cardinals threw a combined three-hitter to complete their first sweep of the Cleveland Guardians with an 7-0 victory Sunday afternoon.
Matthew Liberatore (6-6) pitched six-plus innings, allowing three hits and five walks for his career-high third straight victory. The left-hander struck out five to help St. Louis win its sixth in a row on the road.
Gorman hit a three-run homer in the first against Logan Allen (5-6) and Scott had a two-run blast off Hunter Gaddis in the seventh. Gorman scored twice and stole his first base of the year.
The Cardinals won all three games in the series for their fifth sweep of the season. It marked the first time the Guardians lost home contests on three straight days since Sept. 2-4, 2022.
St. Louis scored 15 straight runs after Cleveland took a 6-1 lead Saturday, which dropped the hosts two games below .500 for the first time since April 8.
Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado, who was removed for precautionary reasons in the eighth, reached a pair of milestones before exiting. The 10-time Gold Glove Award winner singled in the third for his 1,900th career hit — becoming the sixth active player to reach that milestone — then had his 400th double in the sixth.
Allen settled in after the first, working six innings and allowing three runs on six hits. The lefty struck out six and walked two.
Cleveland lost shortstop Gabriel Arias to an injured left ankle in the third, though X-rays proved negative. Arias was taken off the field on a medical cart after the spikes on his left shoe caught on the fringe of the grass when he planted in a failed attempt to backhand a Masyn Winn grounder.
Cleveland’s best offensive opportunity came in the first, when it loaded the bases with two outs before Liberatore got Angel Martinez to hit into a fielder’s choice.
The Guardians have committed errors in 10 straight games, the longest streak in the majors this season and the franchise’s longest since 2011. Right fielder Johnathan Rodriguez was the culprit by fumbling Arenado’s sixth-inning double.
–Field Level Media
