Guardians Pitching Shutdown St. Louis' Best Hitters
The Cleveland Guardians pulled off an improbable win over the St. Louis Cardinals over the weekend. The offense was still a little shaky at times, but the pitching led the way for Cleveland to take 2-of-3 games.
It's pretty clear that if the Guardians are going to win games, it's going to start with the pitching. That's exactly what happened against the Cardinals which turned into a positive result. T
he Guardians gave St. Louis' best hitters a tough time, forcing others to step up.
Nolan Arenado
Nolan Arenado came into the series with a batting average of .298 and a .595 SLG in the month of May. The Cardinals were off to an abysmal start, but have recently turned it around thanks to his production.
However, he only came away with two hits in 10 at-bats against the Guardians. Those two hits came in the series finale as a double off Hunter Gaddis and a base hit off Xzavion Curry.
Arenado went hitless in the previous games which helped Cleveland stay close the entire series.
Nolan Gorman
The Cardinals have found a potential future All-Star in Nolan Gorman who's already made a massive impact on the team. The 23-year-old, first-round pick in 2018 has a batting average of .281 on the season and an OPS of .948.
Cleveland found a way to make Gorman a non-factor in the series. He only recorded one hit in the series which came off Gaddis on Sunday.
Gorman hit third for St. Louis in each game against the Guardians. That spot in the lineup is expected to do damage, but Cleveland did a great job limiting that.
Paul Goldschmidt
I'll admit, out of every Cardinals player, Paul Goldschmidt got to Cleveland's pitching the most. He tallied four hits in the series, including a solo home run in the series finale.
The one reason why the Guardians were able to limit the reigning MVP's damage was by allowing him to only get one RBI on the solo home run. Goldschmidt also struck out three times in the series.
Goldschmidt is going to get him, but Cleveland limited his ability to create runs which were huge when all three games finished.
----
Read More:
Xzavion Curry Records First Career Win Against Cardinals
This Is What Jose Ramirez Said After His Walk Off Double Against Cardinals
Jose Ramirez Walks Off Cardinals, Guardians Take Series
Cleveland Playing With Minuscule Margin For Error
Another One-Run Loss For The Guardians
Be sure to stay locked into Cleveland Baseball Insider all the time:
SUBSCRIBE to the CBI YouTube channel
Follow Cleveland Baseball Insider on Twitter: @CBI_FanNation
Photo Credit © Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
