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Cleveland built a 4-0 lead thanks to a
fifth-inning rally off Matthew Liberatore (1-1) that included an
RBI single from Steven Kwan and a three-run double from Amed
Rosario.
The Cardinals made things interesting to the end. With one out
in the ninth, Lars Nootbar drove an RBI double over the head of
Kwan in left field to cut the Guardians' lead to one.
Clase needed 32 pitches to get through the frame. But he struck
out 2022 National League MVP Paul Goldschmidt on a check swing,
then he got Nolan Gorman -- the NL leader in slugging percentage
(.597) -- to look at a called strike three.
Bieber traded zeros with Liberatore until the fifth, when the
Guardians pieced together a big rally one base at a time,
getting the first five men on base and scoring four of them.
Bieber hit Andres Gimenez with a pitch to start the inning, and
Cleveland loaded the bases on soft singles by Myles Straw and
Mike Zunino. Kwan drove in Gimenez with a single to short left
field.
Rosario then cleared the bases by lining a double into the left
field corner and the Guardians had a 4-0 edge.
Liberatore allowed four runs on five hits in five innings with
two walks and two strikeouts.
The Cardinals, playing their 15th of a stretch 19 games in as
many days, chipped away at the lead, scoring single runs in the
sixth and seventh on sacrifice flies by Nolan Arenado and Alec
Burleson, respectively.
The seventh got even more interesting as Bieber walked the last
two batters he faced before reliever Trevor Stephan walked
Goldschmidt to load the bases. However, Stephan got Gorman to
pop out to third baseman Jose Ramirez in foul territory.
Gorman finished 0-for-4, ending his 15-game hitting streak.
Kwan also helped keep a potential run off the board with a
spectacular catch of Arenado's drive to the left field wall in
the eighth.
--Field Level Media
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