The St. Louis Cardinals arrived in Anaheim, Calif., as the second-lowest scoring team in baseball.
The Cardinals, however, showed their offense is capable of producing by defeating the Los Angeles Angels 10-5 on Monday and 7-6 on Tuesday.
St. Louis will go for a sweep on Wednesday night when the club closes its three-game series in Anaheim.
“We’re starting to click,” Cardinals designated hitter Alec Burleson told Bally Sports Midwest on Tuesday after going 3-for-5 with a two-run homer, a double and two runs. “Everybody looked more comfortable up there. When guys aren’t feeling great that day, a lot of guys are picking each other up. So that’s good to see.”
Catcher Pedro Pages did some picking up with his first big league hit Tuesday, a three-run double. The Cardinals hit just 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position but still manufactured seven runs.
“A week ago, that’s a (loss),” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “The offense is doing a really nice job, one through nine, everybody is contributing and feeling pretty good. So we need to keep it up.”
After seeing his batting average drop to .190, Paul Goldschmidt has gone 5-for-14 with three runs and three RBIs during the Cardinals’ three-game winning streak.
During that span, Brendan Donovan is 4-for-11 with four walks and three runs for St. Louis.
Right-hander Lance Lynn (1-1, 3.79 ERA) will draw the start on Wednesday for the Cardinals. Lynn carried a 2.64 ERA into May before allowing 10 runs (eight earned) on nine hits and five walks in 9 2/3 innings in his next two starts.
He suffered an 11-2 loss Friday to the Milwaukee Brewers in his last outing while failing to get out of the fifth inning.
“Today, I didn’t do my part,” Lynn said after that loss. “I gave up too many runs with two outs. Plain and simple, I’ve got to make a pitch. I’ve got to get out of innings.”
Lynn is 5-3 with a 4.50 ERA in 12 career starts against the Angels.
Los Angeles, which has lost five of its last six games, will counter Lynn with Griffin Canning (1-4, 5.75 ERA). The right-hander struggled during his first six starts this season while posting a 7.45 ERA.
Canning rebounded to deliver strong outings in his last two starts, allowing two runs on just seven hits over 11 2/3 innings.
He struck out eight in those games and walked three while the Angels lost both contests, 4-1 to the Guardians at Cleveland on May 5 and 2-1 at home to the Kansas City Royals on Friday.
“They are good ones to build off,” Canning said. “I’ve tried to focus on me vs. the hitter instead of me vs. myself. Just focusing on throwing strikes. It’s easy sometimes getting caught up in mechanics or other stuff. So just trying to get external instead of internal.”
Canning is 1-1 with a 6.10 ERA in two career starts against the Cardinals.
–Field Level Media