CLEVELAND — The Guardians host the St. Louis Cardinals at Progressive Field on June 28 in the middle game of a three-game series.
After opening this six-game homestand by losing two of three to the Toronto Blue Jays, the Guardians lost the series opener 5-0 to the Cardinals on June 27.
Follow our live updates on the Guardians throughout today’s game.
Ryan Helsley retires Guardians in order in ninth inning as Cardinals earn a 9-6 win
Ryan Helsley retired the Guardians in order in the ninth inning as the Cardinals earn a 9-6 win.
Helsley got Steven Kwan to flyout, struck out Kyle Manzardo and got Jose Ramirez to line out to end the game.
Willson Contreras hits home run to give Cardinals 9-6 lead in ninth inning
Willson Contreras hits a solo home run over the left-field fence off of Kolby Allard to give the Cardinals a 9-6 lead in the ninth inning.
Nolan Gorman hits a single with two outs and becomes the third out when he tries to stretch it to a double, but Guardians right fielder Nolan Jones throws a strike and shortstop Gabriel Arias applies the tag.
Cardinals lead Guardians 8-6 through eight innings
The Cardinals lead the Guardians 8-6 through eight innings.
Kolby Allard worked a scoreless seventh and eighth for Cleveland.
For St. Louis, Matt Svanson pitched a scoreless inning, Steven Matz delivered a scoreless 1⅔ innings and Phil Maton worked 1⅓ scoreless innings.
Cardinals score five runs in sixth inning to lead Guardians 8-6
The Cardinals scored five runs in the sixth inning to lead the Guardians 8-6.
Lars Nootbar, Nolan Arenado and Nolan Gorman each hit a single off of Matt Festa to begin the inning. Gorman’s single scored Nootbar and made it 6-4.
Yohel Pozo added a single off of Festa to load the bases. Tim Herrin entered the game to pitch and allowed a two-run double to right field by Victor Scott II that scored Arenado and Gorman and made it 6-6.
Brendan Donovan lifted a sacrifice fly that scored Pozo to give the Cardinals a 7-6 lead and Scott scored on a Masyn Winn ground out to extend the Cardinals advantage to 8-6. Herrin struck out Alec Burleson to end the inning.
Matt Svanson enters to pitch in relief of Miles Mikolas in the fifth inning, retires Guardians in order
Matt Svanson entered to pitch in relief of Miles Mikolas in the fifth inning and retired the Guardians in order. Svanson struck out Carlos Santana in the inning.
Mikolas pitched four innings and allowed seven hits, six earned runs and one walk. He struck out five.
Alec Burleson hits two-run single to cut Cardinals deficit to 6-3 in fifth inning; Matt Festa enters to pitch as Slade Cecconi exits
Alec Burleson hits a two-run single off of Slade Cecconi to cut the Cardinals deficit to 6-3 in the fifth inning.
Cecconi recorded the first two outs of the inning with a flyout to Nolan Jones in right and a flyout to Steven Kwan in left. Brendan Donovan walked and Masyn Winn doubled before Burleson delivered the two-run single.
Cecconit exited the game after the Burleson hit. Matt Festa entered to pitch and recorded an out to end the inning as Nolan Jones caught a flyball in right field.
Cecconi pitched 4⅔ innings and allowed five hits, three earned runs and two walks. He struck out five.
Steven Kwan hits an RBI triple in fourth inning to give Guardians a 6-1 lead over Cardinals
Steven Kwan smacked an RBI triple to right-center field that scored Austin Hedges and gives the Guardians a 6-1 lead over the Cardinals in the fourth inning. Hedges singled to right field ahead of the Arias home run.
Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas has allowed six runs and six hits in the inning.
Gabriel Arias hits a two-run home run in fourth inning to give Guardians a 5-1 lead over Cardinals
Gabriel Arias hits a two-run home run over the fence in left-center field in the fourth inning off of Miles Mikolas to give the Guardians a 5-1 lead over the Cardinals. The ball traveled 427 feet.
Nolan Jones double gives Guardians a 3-1 lead over Cardinals in fourth inning
Nolan Jones smacks a double to left fied and Lane Thomas scores to give the Guardians a 3-1 lead over the Cardinals in the fourth inning.
Guardians take 2-1 lead over Cardinals in fourth inning
The Guardians take a 2-1 lead over Cardinals in fourth inning.
Jose Ramirez grounded out after a solo home run by Kyle Manzardo. Carlos Santana walked and Lane Thomas hit a double to left-center field to advance to Santana to third base. Daniel Schneemann followed with a ground out to score Santana and give the Guardians a 2-1 lead.
Kyle Manzardo hits a solo home run in fourth inning as Guardians draw even with Cardinals at 1-1
Kyle Manzardo hits a solo home run to leadoff the fourth inning off of Miles Mikolas as the Guardians draw even with the Cardinals at 1-1.
Manzardo’s home run over the center field fence snapped Cleveland’s 21-inning scoreless streak. The ball traveled 416 feet.
Three innings complete in Cleveland, Cardinals lead 1-0
Guardians starter Slade Cecconi worked a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the third and Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas worked a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the third.
Cardinals right fielder Alec Burleson and first baseman Willson Contreras each hit flyballs that were caught at the fence in the third inning. Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan caught Burleson’s flyout and right fielder Nolan Jones caught Contreras’ flyout.
Mikolas has five strikeouts through three innings.
Guardians starter Slade Cecconi works around single and error to retire Cardinals in second inning
Guardians starter Slade Cecconi worked around a two-out single by Victor Scott II and error to retire the Cardinals in the second inning. Cecconi made the error with a poor throw to first baseman Carlos Santana on a pickoff attempt. Cecconi struck out Yohel Pozo in the inning.
Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas works around single to retire Guardians in first inning
Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas worked around a one-out single by Kyle Manzardo to retire the Guardians in the first inning. Mikolas got got Steven Kwan to fly out to begin the inning and struck out Jose Ramirez and Carlos Santana to end the inning.
Brendan Donovan hits a solo home run on the first pitch of the game to give Cardinals 1-0 lead
Brendan Donovan hits a solo home run on the first pitch of the game from Slade Cecconi to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. First pitch was at 4:10 p.m.. The temperature is 82 degrees.
Masyn Winn hit a infield single after Donovan’s home run. Ceccconi struck out Alec Burleson, walked Willson Contreras, struck out Lars Nootbarr and got Nolan Arenado to ground out to end the inning. Guardians shortstop Gabriel Arias and first baseman Carlos Santana connected on the final play of the top of the first.
What time do the Guardians play today?
First pitch is schedule for 4:10 p.m. ET June 28.
Jose Ramirez returns to Guardians lineup
Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez is back in the lineup for today’s game. The All-Star returns to the lineup after missing the June 27 loss to the Cardinals. Ramirez was hit by a 95 mph fastball from Toronto’s Kevin Gausman on June 26 and left that game with a contusion in his forearm in the fourth inning.
The Cardinals batting order against the Guardians
The Guardians batting order against the Cardinals
Guardians in the AL Central standings
The Guardians enter Saturday with a 40-40 record and trailing the first-place Detroit Tigers (51-32) by 9½ games in the American League Central Division. The Cardinals enter Saturday with a 45-38 record and trailing the first-place Chicago Cubs (48-34) by 3½ games in the National League Central Division.
Guardians vs. Cardinals pitching probables | Slade Cecconi vs. Miles Mikolas
Right-hander Slade Cecconi (3-3, 3.38) is the scheduled starting picther for the Guardians and the Cardinals will counter wirth right-hander Miles Mikolas (4-5, 4.31).
Guardians seek to get offense going again after two shutout losses
The Guardians enter Saturday scoreless in their past two games, losing to the Blue Jays 6-0 on Thursday, June 26 and 5-0 to the Cardinals on Friday, June 27.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman pitched eight scoreless innings for Toronto on Thursday and Chad Green added a scoreless inning. The Guardians were limited to two hits in the game, both coming off of Gausman. Gausman struck out six and walked one. Green struck out one and walked one.
Cardinals starter Sonny Gray pitched a one-hit shutout for St. Louis on Friday with 11 strikeouts and no walks.
Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians vs Cardinals recap | Six-run inning not enough as Cleveland continues to struggle
Reporting by Michael Beaven, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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