Guardians get contributions up and down the lineup to topple Cards

ST. LOUIS -- The Guardians didn’t take long to respond.

Just 24 hours removed from a lopsided loss in Atlanta, Cleveland bounced back with a 9-3 win over the Cardinals on Monday night at Busch Stadium. The Guardians paired a steady outing from Gavin Williams with a relentless offensive attack that saw all nine starters reach base, seven different players score and the lineup combine for 11 hits and five walks.

Angel Martínez set the tone immediately, turning on a 1-2 curveball from Matthew Liberatore and sending it 398 feet to left for a home run in the first inning.

“It was good to just come out with a bang,” manager Stephen Vogt said.

Williams didn’t have that same rhythm early. After a 36-pitch first inning in which St. Louis loaded the bases, he limited the damage to one run -- a moment that proved pivotal.

“Yeah, he just locked it back in,” Vogt said. “Limited the damage, got us out of that inning with only one run and gave us a chance to win.”

Williams settled in from there, working efficiently through the middle innings and keeping the Cardinals from building any momentum. He completed five innings, allowing two runs on five hits with four strikeouts across 93 pitches, 62 of them for strikes.

“Early strikes,” Williams said. “Just attacking the zone, trying to use as few pitches as possible and go as deep as I can.”

Cleveland broke through in the fourth with the type of sequence it had struggled to produce a day earlier.

Four straight hitters reached to open the inning, and Daniel Schneemann delivered the key swing, threading a bases-loaded single through the right side to drive in two runs. Austin Hedges followed with a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 4-1.

“He worked the count, laid off some sliders, which got him a fastball and was able to get it through the hole,” Vogt said. “That was huge.”

Schneemann said the focus was staying disciplined against a tough left-hander and being ready when the pitch came.

“I was just trying to see something start close,” Schneemann said. “He’s got that good tight slider… I just got a pitch I could handle, and it got through.”

The Guardians added insurance in the sixth.

After Hedges drew a two-out walk, Brayan Rocchio turned on a four-seam fastball and sent it 402 feet to left for a two-run homer, pushing the lead to 6-1.

Rocchio’s swing was part of a broader offensive approach that consistently forced St. Louis into the zone. Cleveland saw 61 pitches across the fourth and fifth innings alone, grinding at-bats and stringing together quality plate appearances.

“Good swing decisions,” Vogt said. “We made them work, made them come into the zone, foul off some tough borderline pitches and pass the baton to the next guy.”

From there, the Guardians continued to apply pressure late, tacking on three more runs and forcing St. Louis to cycle through multiple arms out of the bullpen after Liberatore exited.

Cleveland’s bullpen handled the rest, including Hunter Gaddis’ return in the eighth inning. While not perfect, Gaddis settled in after a shaky start to limit the damage and get through the frame.

It all added up to a complete performance. Cleveland got five innings from its starter, contributions from every spot in the lineup and enough from the bullpen to secure a comfortable win.

“We believe in this lineup,” Schneemann said. “When we score runs, we’re going to win a lot of games with how good our pitching staff is.”