Wednesday’s Game Report: Cardinals 5, Guardians 3
By Rob Rains
The early days of this season already have been filled with what almost feels like a year’s-worth of highs and lows for Nathan Church.
Luckily for Church and the Cardinals, Wednesday was another day on the high side of the scale. Just hours after he hit the game-winning sacrifice fly in the 10th inning on Tuesday night, Church had three hits, drove in a run and scored twice in a win over the Guardians on Wednesday at Busch Stadium.
Already this season Church has experienced the high of getting three hits on opening day, followed by the low of going hitless over a stretch of 22 at-bats, which was snapped by the high of hitting a game-tying home run in the eighth inning in Washington.
He then had a low earlier this week of forgetting how many outs there were in the inning when he caught a fly ball in left field, only to rebound with his big performances the last two days.
Here is how Wednesday’s game broke down:
At the plate: Church had a bunt single, stole second and scored on a single by Pedro Pages in the second … He singled again in the sixth and scored on a two-run single by Alec Burleson that capped a three-run inning … Church provided an insurance run in the seventh with an RBI double after the Guardians had pulled within a run … JJ Wetherholt reached base three times on two walks and a hit by pitch and also drove in a run with a sacrifice fly … Jordan Walker extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a double in the eighth … Ivan Herrera drew three walks, one intentionally, and took over the major-league lead with 18 walks in 18 games to start the season.
On the mound: Dustin May worked six innings, allowing only one run, in the first inning. He scattered six hits, walked one and struck out four … The Guardians closed to within 4-3 with two runs in the seventh off Justin Bruihl before JoJo Romero was able to get the third out and strand the potential tying run on second base. He then retired the side in order in the eighth … Riley O’Brien worked a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts for his fifth save. He has allowed only one unearned run in 10 games, covering 10 1/3 innings, giving up only four hits, no walks and striking out 11 to begin the season.
Key stat: Wetherholt’s sacrifice fly and Burleson’s two-run single in the sixth came with the bases loaded. The Cardinals had a combined three hits in 18 plate appearances with the bases loaded this season before the sixth inning, one a grand slam by Walker in Detroit.
Worth noting: The Cardinals do not have a home run out of the DH spot so far this season, over a span of 66 combined at-bats … They also have not had a triple by any hitter in the first 18 games of the season … They stole a season-high four bases on Wednesday after only having one stolen base over the previous six games … Pitching at Memphis on Wednesday, Quinn Mathews had his best start of the season. He worked five shutout innings, allowed one hit, walked three and recorded eight strikeouts.
Up next: The Cardinals flew to Houston after the game and after a day off on Thursday will open a three-game series on Friday night against the Astros. Kyle Leahy is the scheduled starter. The road trip also will three games against the Marlins in Miami.
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