Guardians finally find some offense but still fall 9-6 to Cardinals

CLEVELAND — The Guardians solved one problem only to have another one arise. Cleveland finally ended its offensive futility Saturday at Progressive Field, snapping a 21-inning scoreless streak with six runs in the fourth, but poor pitching paved the way for a 9-6 loss to the Cardinals. The loss, the Guardians' fourth in the last five games, dropped them under .500 (40-41) for the first time since April 9 when they were 5-6. Cleveland is 9-15 in June with one more game left in the dismal month. "Nobody can hide this has been a difficult month, but I think that's baseball," shortstop Gabriel Arias said through an interpreter. "Who knows? Maybe July becomes a very hot month for us. The reality is that we're not out of it. We're still close to being in contention. "So for us it's the same mindset. Tomorrow we have to come strong again, try to compete, try to get going, because the moment (the opponent is) less effective, we're back in the fight." Arias hit one of the Guardians' two homers in the fourth off Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas, with Kyle Manzardo providing the other to lead off the inning. Arias leads the team with 11 multi-RBI games. Cleveland, which got multihit efforts from Arias, Manzardo and Nolan Jones, had four straight two-out hits in the fourth, scoring four times. "I thought we got some pitches to hit and didn't miss them," manager Stephen Vogt said. "We got ourselves into good counts. We weren't chasing. We forced (Mikolas) into the strike zone and he had to come after us. That's when we're at our best, when we're taking those fringe pitches, getting the calls and getting into good counts to hit. And I thought today our at-bats overall were really good." It was a dubious beginning for Guardians starter Slade Cecconi, who allowed a homer on his first pitch to Brendan Donovan, but limited St. Louis to only one hit over the next three innings. Cleveland has surrendered seven homers on the first pitch of the game this season, three by right-hander Gavin Williams. Cecconi was on the mound when the Cardinals began their comeback, allowing two runs in the fifth, as St. Louis closed to within 6-3. "I thought it was a really interesting outing for Slade," Vogt said. "I thought the first two innings he was really having a hard time commanding, but I felt like the third and fourth he found it. And then in the fifth we got the first two guys out and then the walk and the bloop single. I thought he battled, especially those first two innings, 40-something pitches without really having anything but a fastball and curveball." "We grinded through the beginning part where some of the command wasn't quite there," Cecconi said. "I think kind of the third inning on we found it and started getting on a good roll. Some luck didn't go our way in the fifth with some calls and some bloops, and that's baseball. Some days it goes your way, some days it goes their way." St. Louis took the lead for good against right-hander Matt Festa, who surrendered four straight hits to begin the sixth. Left-hander Tim Herrin relieved Festa and allowed a game-tying, RBI double to No. 9 hitter Victor Scott II before the Cards forged ahead for good on a sacrifice fly from Donovan. The increased offensive production was the silver lining from the Guardians' third straight loss. "I think it showed us that it's in there," Cecconi said of the offense. "I mean, we came out and exploded for six runs in an inning. We did take some really good at-bats after that six-run inning that didn't amount to runs, but showed us that it's in there on the offensive side. On the pitching side, I don't think anybody's going to tell you they had their best day today, but we know what we're capable of as a staff moving forward." "I think it's in there," Jones said. "We just got to stick together and keep grinding. I think it's frustrating, but if we knew the answer, we would've done it two months ago. I think that obviously we have the arms to compete against anybody and have some guys who have been swinging it well and some guys like myself who haven't been contributing a ton and we know it's in there and just got to keep believing and pushing." Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on X.