Guardians blanked for ninth time this season as Cardinals finish sweep

CLEVELAND — The Guardians are off Monday, which means they won't play another game in June. Hallelujah for them. Cleveland capped a miserable month by getting shut out for the ninth time this season, 7-0, by the Cardinals, who completed a three-game sweep Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field. Despite the rotation posting the fourth-lowest ERA in the American League (3.61), the Guardians went 9-16 in June, getting shut out seven times since May 25. "The month of June has not been kind," said manager Stephen Vogt, whose team has scored in only one inning over the last four games. "We're going through a tough stretch. We went through tough stretches last year. We've got 13 games in a row coming up after this off-day and we've got an opportunity to get it rolling. That's the way I look at it." "We didn't sign up to play 80 games. We signed up to play 162," said catcher and clubhouse leader Austin Hedges. "When September's over, that's how we'll judge our season." In addition to losing for the fifth time in six games, the Guardians likely lost shortstop Gabriel Arias for an extended spell with a left ankle sprain. Arias appeared to roll his ankle while sliding into the outfield grass attempting to field a single from Masyn Winn in the third inning. He was carted off the field in an air cast and will undergo an MRI on Monday. Opening day starting shortstop Brayan Rocchio is available at Triple-A to replace Arias, who was off to a positive start in a pivotal year for him — leading the Guardians with 11 multi-RBI games. "You hurt for him. Gabi's been awesome for us," Vogt said. "He's been playing an amazing shortstop. You're just scared when you see somebody in that much pain and you don't know what it could be. Hopefully we get some decent news (Monday). "It's awful, awful," Hedges said. "When one of your friends, brothers gets hurt, it's gutting. It's tough to see. We're all praying for him." Cleveland starter Logan Allen allowed a three-run homer to Nolan Gorman five batters into the game but settled in to hold the Cardinals scoreless on four hits over the remainder of his six-inning outing. "Hung a bad pitch to Gorman and he put a good swing on it," said Allen, who has logged five or more innings in five straight starts. "A big league hitter hit a mistake, that's kind of how it goes. But I was happy to settle in, happy to get through six, keep the team in it. That was big. Just gotta settle in a little earlier." The left-hander only allowed one hit over his final three innings, striking out six on the day. "Take away the first five hitters of the game, Logan was awesome," Vogt said. "Early in the game, he struggled with a little bit of command and then hung a slider to Gorman. Turned in six innings for us, kept us in the game long enough to give us a chance to come back." The Guardians were still within striking distance before Hunter Gaddis allowed a two-run homer to Victor Scott II in the seventh to make it 5-0. It was the fifth homer surrendered in 32 innings by Gaddis, who allowed four all of last year. Cleveland managed only three hits in six innings against St. Louis starter Matthew Liberatore, who walked the first two batters in the seventh before departing. JoJo Romero came on and struck out Johnathan Rodriguez and Hedges before getting Steven Kwan to ground out and end the inning. The Guardians had only three hits for the game and didn't get any after a one-out single from Rodriguez in the fifth. "I'm sure it's been a frustrating series for them, offensively," Liberatore said of Cleveland, which was shut out twice in the three games. The Guardians' offense ranks near the bottom of the majors in practically every category, but Vogt said no changes are on the horizon. "Stay the course. As soon as we start changing things, that means we don't believe," he said. "We haven't changed a thing. I believe in this team. I believe we have the right players. My confidence never shakes with this group and I know we're gonna break out of it." Hedges supports his manager's approach. "You do the same thing you do every day," he said. "Nothing changes, whether you're playing good or you're playing bad. Just be the same guy every day." Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on X.