Cardinals shut down star power in tremendous series win versus Guardians

After a poor beginning to the month of June, the St. Louis Cardinals are rolling once again, winning three games in a row and seven of their last ten. Having been shut out in their final two games versus the Chicago Cubs, it was their turn to dish the pain rather than receive it. This past weekend, the Cardinals had the pleasure of sweeping the Guardians through a masterful pitching performance by Sonny Gray as well as a couple offensive outbursts. Additionally, the team had great success in limiting the Guardians' key players Jose Ramirez, Steven Kwan, and Emmanuel Clase, from impacting the game.

During this series, the Cardinals' pitching staff dominated the Guardians' offense. In three games, the Guardians' offense was held scoreless in two and scoreless in 26 out of 27 innings played. Yes, that’s right. The Guardians' offense scored in just one inning out of three games. In that fourth inning on Saturday, the Guardians went six for nine, plating six runs and converting with runners in scoring position twice. Apart from that inning, Cleveland went 9/113 and totaled 2/14 with runners in scoring position for the series. Out of ten different Cardinals pitchers who pitched in this series, only one gave up any runs, as Miles Mikolas was on the hook for that fourth inning on Saturday.

A large reason for the Redbirds' success this past weekend was their ability to shut down Cleveland’s top contributors. In this series, the Cardinals gave up just one hit to the powerful combination of Steven Kwan and Jose Ramirez. Through three games, Kwan, who came into this series with a batting average over .300, mustered a 1/14 slash line. In two games, perennial AL MVP candidate Jose Ramirez was held hitless. Role players Daniel Schneemann went 0/8 and former Cardinal Lane Thomas was limited to 1/9 in three games. As for Emmanuel Clase, the Cardinals only had to see him once in this series ,and although he produced a scoreless ninth inning on Sunday, the Cardinals' seven-run lead made his appearance much less frightening.

Now the Cardinals will take their moment to Pittsburgh as they face off against the NL Central’s last-place Pirates in a three-game set. Next, the team will head to Wrigley to play three more games against the Cubs before a six-game home stand. Trailing Chicago by just two and a half games, the Cardinals will now have an opportunity to take the division lead for the first time since the very beginning of the season in Chicago next weekend. The Brewers and Reds remain in the thick of it as well, both within five games of the Cubs. As the trade deadline approaches, these next two division series not only will be pivotal for the season’s trajectory but will also solidify the team’s plans for the July trade deadline.