The St. Louis Cardinals (24-30) are on the road to face the Cleveland Guardians (22-29) at Progressive Field on Sunday with the three-game Interleague series knotted at 1-1. The Cardinals evened up the series 1-1 after winning 2-1 in 10 innings on Saturday.
Reliever Ryan Helsley was credited with the win after throwing 1.1 scoreless innings, and Giovanny Gallegos picked up his sixth save with a scoreless ninth.
Brendan Donovan was 1 for 2 with a home run and two runs, walking twice, in the win. Jose Ramirez went 2 for 5 with one RBI for the Guardians.
ON THE MOUND
Jordan Montgomery (2-6, 4.55 ERA) is in line to take the mound for St. Louis. The southpaw allowed four runs over four innings in his last start, a 6-5 home defeat against the Reds on Monday.
He gave up seven hits while striking out four and walking three in the no-decision. Montgomery is making his first appearance against the Guardians this season. Montgomery made one start against the Guardians in 2022, a 2-0 road loss for the Yankees on July 3.
He surrendered one run on three hits over five innings, striking out eight and walking three. For Cleveland, righty Hunter Gaddis (1-1, 5.26 ERA) will toe the rubber.
It’s his first appearance of the season against the Cardinals. In his last start on Monday, Gaddis got the win at home against the White Sox. He threw six scoreless innings and gave up two hits, striking out four and walking one in the 3-0 triumph.
AT THE PLATE
Over the last five games, St. Louis has averaged only 3.6 runs a game, down from their season average of 5.0, while slashing worse across the board (.218/.303/.370). Against right-handed pitchers like Gaddis this season, the Cards have a .762 OPS.
Paul Goldschmidt has the team’s highest on-base percentage against right-handers at .412 over 144 at-bats. Cleveland is averaging only 2.0 runs per game in the last five, down from 3.4 for the season, with their slash line dropping across the board (.195/.253/.292).
The Guardians have a .634 OPS against left-handers in 2023, second lowest in MLB. With a .890 OPS over 49 at-bats, Andres Gimenez has been their best hitter against left-handers.
HOME AND AWAY
St. Louis is 13-15 away from home in 2023, scoring 4.1 runs per game while allowing 4.4 runs. Cleveland has gone 11-15 at Progressive Field this season, averaging 2.7 runs per game while surrendering 3.9.
In the last 10 meetings at Progressive Field, each club has won five, though Cleveland has the scoring advantage with an average final margin of 3.1-2.7.
STANDINGS UPDATE
The Cardinals are third in the NL Central, four games behind the division-leading Brewers. The Guardians are third in the AL Central, four games behind the Twins.
SportsTips’ MLB Pick:
Cleveland Guardians (+115)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
