CLEVELAND (AP) — Nolan Gorman belted a three-run homer, Victor Scott II had a two-run shot and Matthew Liberatore won his career-high third straight start and the St. Louis Cardinals rolled to a 7-0 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Sunday.
Gorman went deep in the first inning off Logan Allen (5-6), while Scott homered off Hunter Gaddis in the seventh to extend the Cardinals’ lead to 5-0. Pedro Pagés and Garrett Hampson added RBIs in the eighth.
St. Louis has won six straight on the road, its longest run under fourth-year manager Oliver Marmol. The Cardinals completed their initial series sweep of Cleveland by a 21-6 margin in the three-game set.
Liberatore (6-6) tossed six innings, striking out five while allowing three hits and five walks. JoJo Romero, Riley O’Brien and John King wrapped up the combined three-hitter that included eight bases on balls.
Allen gave up three runs in six innings for Cleveland, which went 1-5 on its homestand and fell two games below .500 for the first time since April 8.
Guardians shortstop Gabriel Arias was taken off the field on a cart after sustaining a left ankle sprain in the third, but X-rays of his lower leg were negative. He caught his left spikes on the grass while going into the hole to field a grounder by Masyn Winn.
With two outs in the first and Winn and Willson Contreras aboard, Gorman hammered Allen’s sweeper 428 feet into the right-center field stands.
Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado singled in the third for his 1,900th hit and had his 400th double in the sixth. He was removed for “cautionary reasons” in the eighth, according to the team.
Cardinals: RHP Erick Fedde (3-7, 4.11 ERA) starts the opener of a three-game series Monday in Pittsburgh.
Guardians: RHP Gavin Williams (5-3, 3.68 ERA) pitches Tuesday to begin a three-game set at the Chicago Cubs.
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