Guardians play the Cardinals in first of 3-game series
St. Louis Cardinals (44-38, third in the NL Central) vs. Cleveland Guardians (40-39, second in the AL Central)
Cleveland; Friday, 7:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Sonny Gray (7-2, 3.72 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 90 strikeouts); Guardians: Luis Ortiz (4-8, 4.30 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 91 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cardinals -130, Guardians +109; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Cleveland Guardians host the St. Louis Cardinals to start a three-game series.
Cleveland has gone 20-17 at home and 40-39 overall. The Guardians have a 27-5 record in games when they out-hit their opponents.
St. Louis is 18-21 on the road and 44-38 overall. The Cardinals have the 10th-best team batting average in MLB play at .253.
Friday's game is the first time these teams match up this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jose Ramirez has a .317 batting average to lead the Guardians, and has 16 doubles, a triple and 13 home runs. Steven Kwan is 12 for 36 with an RBI over the past 10 games.
Nolan Arenado has 11 doubles, a triple and 10 home runs while hitting .242 for the Cardinals. Alec Burleson is 12 for 41 with two doubles and four home runs over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Guardians: 5-5, .203 batting average, 3.58 ERA, outscored by 12 runs
Cardinals: 7-3, .239 batting average, 3.87 ERA, outscored opponents by 12 runs
INJURIES: Guardians: Jose Ramirez: day-to-day (forearm), Andrew Walters: 60-Day IL (lat), Ben Lively: 60-Day IL (forearm), Will Brennan: 10-Day IL (forearm), Paul Sewald: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Shane Bieber: 60-Day IL (elbow), Erik Sabrowski: 60-Day IL (elbow), Trevor Stephan: 60-Day IL (elbow), John Means: 60-Day IL (elbow), Sam Hentges: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
Cardinals: Jordan Walker: 10-Day IL (appendicitis), Ivan Herrera: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Zack Thompson: 60-Day IL (lat)
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
9 minutes ago
- Forbes
The Most Important Packers: No. 26 — Isaiah McDuffie
Green Bay Packers linebacker Isaiah McDuffie (58) was second on the team in tackles last season. The Green Bay Packers went 11-6 last season, sweeping the NFC West and the AFC South along the way. Overall, though, no one in the building was happy. The Packers failed to build on their terrific finish to the 2023 campaign, settled for the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoffs, and lost a Wild Card game to eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia. Afterwards, general manager Brian Gutekunst turned up the heat on everybody in the building. 'We need to continue to ramp up our sense of urgency,' Gutekunst said. 'I think it's time we started competing for championships.' Those are fair expectations. The Packers return 20 of 22 starters, and appear to have upgraded the roster via free agency and the draft. With several third and fourth year players trending upward, Green Bay should be poised to make a move. 'I think they're ready,' Gutekunst said. Now, it's time for the Packers to prove their G.M. right. Green Bay's first training camp practice is July 23. Between now and then I will count down the '30 Most Important Packers' heading into the 2025 campaign. At No. 26 is linebacker Isaiah 26 Isaiah McDuffie, LB Last season McDuffie started all 17 games last year and ranked second on the team with a career high 94 tackles. McDuffie added three tackles for loss, three quarterback hits, three passes defensed and a forced fumble. According to Pro Football Focus, McDuffie had a respectable run defense grade of 66.5, which ranked 86th out of 189 linebackers. His coverage grade of 45.8 ranked just 148th, though. McDuffie, a sixth round draft pick in 2021, then signed a two-year, $8 million contract in to date McDuffie saw limited playing time as a rookie in 2021, then tied for the team-lead with a career-high 13 special teams tackles in 2022. McDuffie saw action in all 17 games that season, made one start and finished with 30 tackles. McDuffie then took on a far greater role in 2023 when injuries hit the position. With preferred starters De'Vondre Campbell (six) and Quay Walker (three) missing a combined nine games due to injury, McDuffie stepped in that season and played a career-high 513 snaps. While McDuffie didn't register a turnover play in 2023, he was extremely reliable and played with a ferocity the coaches loved. That eventually led to a bigger role in 2024 and a second contact with the Packers in Players like Edgerrin Cooper, Quay Walker, Ty'Ron Hopper and Isaiah Simmons might be more talented than McDuffie. But he might be hard to keep off the field. McDuffie is as reliable as that 1970s Smith Corona Typewriter that sits in your basement, but somehow still works. McDuffie played 64.2% of the defensive snaps last year, second-most in the linebacking group behind Walker (68.6%). And don't be surprised if he matches that total again. McDuffie will be challenged in training camp by younger or more athletic players. But all teams love consistency and reliability, which McDuffie Said It … 'From the day we've had Isaiah, he's done everything that we would ask for as far as the way he handles himself. He's been an elite special teams player from the beginning, certainly started a lot of games at linebacker for us, so I just thought as we were talking, that that made a lot of sense to bring him back. He's just a glue guy, does everything the right way and again, when you have a player of his caliber who's been an elite (special) teams player and really performed very well every time you put him on the field on defense, it just made sense.' — Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst on re-signing McDuffie'I've known Isaiah for years. I was with him at (Boston College), knew him a little before. You know, he's a guy that you talk about play style, doing things the right way. He's that type of guy, right? He's going to show up every day and be the exact same person. He's going to work harder than anybody. He's going to study, he's going to learn, he's going to really pour everything he has into the Green Bay Packers. So I think when you get guys like that, it's getting back a leader. It's somebody people can follow.' — Packers linebackers coach Sean Duggan on McDuffie'You want to talk about tough? That guy, you've got to give him so much credit for how much he cares about this team, for how badly he wants to play football. You talk about … what's right about the sport. I love that guy.' — Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley on McDuffieTHE TOP 30 • No. 30 — RB MarShawn Lloyd • No. 29 — WR Dontayvion Wicks • No. 28 — S Javon Bullard • No. 27 — WR Savion Williams
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Rivals Five-Star: Breaking down the wide receivers
INDIANAPOLIS – The stars came out for the 2025 Rivals Five-Star event at the Indianapolis Colts' facility this week. Here we break down the top receivers from the event. MORE FROM INDY: Highlights and analysis | Teams that should be pleased | Gorney Awards | Biggest surprises | Flip watch | QB analysis | RB analysis RECRUITING INTEL: Mid-South | Florida | West | Southeast | Midwest RIVALS FIVE-STAR MEDIA DAY: All the news, notes and interviews | The All-Lobby Team | How solid are the commitments? | Roster RIVALS FIVE-STAR INTERVIEWS: Jaden O'Neal | Trae Taylor | Chase Calicut | Samu Moala | Jake Kreul | Felix Ojo | Peyton Houston | CJ Sadler | Richard Wesley | JaReylan McCoy | Carter Scruggs | Nolan Wilson | Carson Sneed | Derrek Cooper | Devin Carter | Jayden Wade | Joel Wyatt | Kaden Henderson | Nick Abrams The five-star Ohio State commit gets better every time I see him. His impressive track speed is what everyone knows about. But his ability to run crisp routes, create separation and catch the ball continue to get better. That's a scary proposition for opposing defenses. Advertisement Many programs including Tennessee are trying to move him off his commitment to Ohio State. It'll be tough to do so as long as coach Brian Hartline is on staff. SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS WITH OHIO STATE FANS AT Gregory is a consistent performer at every event. He just makes plays. The Texas A&M commitment is a crafty route runner that gets just enough separation on his routes. But his calling card is his hands. Gregory rarely drops a pass and we didn't see it happen again during the Rivals Five-Star. Coach Mike Elko will have a very dependable weapon in his offense. SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS WITH TEXAS A&M FANS AT The IMG Academy star was one of the youngest players in attendance but made a huge impact. He won the fastest man competition, beating everyone in the finals. McFarland was consistently open during the one-on-ones and 7-on-7 portion of camp. Advertisement He's a name the country will know about in short order. Sadler was one of the bigger surprises of camp. We knew he was good but no one saw it coming that he'd be able to get open with such ease against some of the best defensive backs in the country. The Michigan native is electric in the slot and took home MVP honors. North Carolina has the momentum in this recruitment. But Colorado, Maryland, Michigan and Michigan State are still in the hunt for him.
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Mission Viejo, Mater Dei could meet in seven-on-seven passing tournament
Saturday is one of those busy days in summer passing competitions for fans to get a sneak peek of the high school football season. Mission Viejo is hosting a seven-on-seven passing tournament that includes Mater Dei, which will then take its mandatory two-week dead period immediately after the tournament. A matchup of Mission Viejo and quarterback Luke Fahey against Mater Dei's outstanding defensive backs will be something that's likely to take place. Santa Margarita has pulled out from participating in the Mission Viejo tournament and will be replaced by Schurr, which won a tournament earlier this month. Advertisement There's also an eight-team passing tournament at St. John Bosco featuring the Braves, Servite and Gardena Serra, among others. Salinas pulled out and has been replaced by La Sierra in Riverside. Simi Valley, Redondo Union and Baldwin Park are also hosting tournaments this weekend. After Saturday, the next big day for passing tournaments is July 12, featuring Huntington Beach Edison's Battle at the Beach, along with tournaments at Ocean View and Huntington Beach. Sign up for the L.A. Times SoCal high school sports newsletter to get scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
