The St. Louis Cardinals will vie for their eighth win in 10 games on Sunday as they wrap up a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis.

Manager Oliver Marmol’s team snapped a two-game losing streak on Saturday with a 9-6 win over the Twins, and in that victory, the Cardinals continued to swing the bats well. They managed 13 hits and smacked four home runs.

“Offense did a really nice job today,” Marmol said. “They continue to just – one through nine – take some really, really tough at-bats.”

Over the last nine games, St. Louis is averaging seven runs a game. As a team, the Cardinals have batted .292 (93-for-319) and hit 16 of their 81 homers in that span.

Jordan Walker extended his hitting streak to 10 games on Saturday and did so in emphatic fashion. His one hit in five at-bats was his 18th home run, which hit off the third-deck facade in left field.

During his hitting streak, Jordan has .362 (17-for-47) batting average and a .660 slugging percentage.

Even a newcomer has gotten in on the action. Third baseman Blaze Jordan made his debut Friday. Ranked the team’s 25th best prospect by MLB.com, the 23-year-old has gone 2-for-4 in both starts. On Saturday, he tripled and hit his first major league home run.

While the Cardinals have been hot of late, the Twins have lost five of their last seven, although they are starting to find their power stroke. They homered three times in Saturday’s loss and seven times so far in the series. Manager Derek Shelton’s squad has homered 15 times in its last nine home games dating back to June 1.

“It’s important, and I think we knew the ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark was going to come when the weather warmed up here,” Shelton said.

Royce Lewis and Byron Buxton both homered in Saturday’s loss. Lewis, who was recalled last weekend from Triple-A St. Paul, has a six-game hitting streak with three home runs in his last four games.

Buxton, who ranks third in the American League with 22 homers, has five in his last seven contests.

A pair of 25-year-old right-handers will start on Sunday.

Michael McGreevy (3-5, 2.99 ERA) seeks his first win since May 8 for the Cardinals. He got a no-decision last Sunday against the Cincinnati Reds in a game St. Louis claimed 5-3, when he gave up two runs on five hits in six innings. Both runs came off solo homers. He will face Minnesota for the first time in his big-league career.

Taj Bradley (5-3, 4.02) has lost his last two starts and has not gotten out of the fifth inning in his last three. Bradley gave up three home runs in 4 1/3 innings Tuesday at Detroit, allowing five runs on seven hits and three walks in a 10-4 loss.

His only start against St. Louis took place on Aug. 7, 2024, as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays. He gave up five runs on nine hits and three walks in 4 2/3 innings and was tagged with the loss as the Cardinals won 5-2.

-Field Level Media

Zack Gelof is on a hot streak for the surging Athletics, and he and his teammates will try to turn the temperature up when they face the Colorado Rockies Sunday in the finale of a three-game series in Las Vegas.

The A’s will send left-hander Jeffrey Springs (3-6, 4.68 ERA) to the mound against Colorado right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano (6-4, 4.08) with a chance to sweep the Rockies.

Gelof extended his hitting streak to 17 games on Saturday in the Athletics’ 7-5 win.

The A’s have won four in a row after debuting in Las Vegas with a loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night. They took the final two games against Milwaukee and the first two versus Colorado, which has lost three in a row.

The streaking A’s are heating up along with the weather in Las Vegas. The last three games have started with temperatures of 102 degrees or higher, and Sunday’s forecast is expected to hit 106 in mid-afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

It would be one of the hottest major league games in history should the teams still be playing at the day’s hottest time.

“It’s our job to go out there and play,” Nick Kurtz said. “That’s what we intend to do no matter the conditions. Is it going to always be fun? No. Will it be really hot and really brutal at times? Yeah. But our job as players is to go out there and do what we can to win the game.”

The A’s have been doing a lot of winning lately, but Springs has struggled. He is 0-6 in his last 10 appearances entering his first career encounter versus Colorado.

The Rockies, meanwhile, are stumbling after a 4-2 homestand, but have their most consistent starter going Sunday. Sugano, who leads Colorado starters in wins and ERA, can improve to 3-0 in June in his third career start against the A’s on Sunday. In his two previous outings against them he is 1-1 with a 3.18 ERA.

Sugano will need help to get by the A’s, and catcher Brett Sullivan can serve as one of the catalysts for the Rockies. Sullivan is 6-for-13 in his last five games and has clubbed three of his four home runs of the season in the last three contests.

Sullivan had a solo shot Saturday night and added a sacrifice fly.

“He’s looked very comfortable the past week or so up at the plate, and he’s got some opportunities to play,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said.

Sullivan’s play has been overshadowed a bit by the strong debut of outfielder Cole Carrigg, who has two home runs since being called up before Tuesday night against the Chicago Cubs.

Sullivan doesn’t mind sharing the credit for the team’s recent success, which had won two consecutive series before losing Saturday night.

“It’s not just personal momentum,” Sullivan said. “The guys have been playing great. When you get in there, you’re trying to keep up and just do your part.”

–Field Level Media

The Philadelphia Phillies have lived two very different lives in their first two games against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Phillies hope to replicate their latest offensive performance on Sunday afternoon when they visit the Brewers in the decisive contest of a three-game set.

In Friday’s series opener, Jacob Misiorowski authored one of the greatest starts in Brewers’ history. He pitched a one-hitter for his first career complete game, struck out 15 without a walk and did it all without reaching the 100-pitch mark.

On Saturday, though, the Phillies set a season high with 17 hits in a 9-8 victory. J.T. Realmuto homered and drove in four runs, while Edmundo Sosa also went deep for the visitors.

“We weren’t bothered (tonight) by what happened last night, and I didn’t think we would be,” Philadelphia interim manager Don Mattingly said. “Honestly, anytime you face that, and (Misiorowski’s) throwing the ball like he did last night, it’s kind of easy to flush it. When a guy’s doing that, anybody you see after that is just not the same.”

Realmuto and Sosa had three hits, as did Kyle Schwarber and Brandon Marsh. The Phillies have won 12 of their last 17 games, while the Brewers have dropped three of their last four contests.

“I think we have a really good group here and we’re able to do the little things,” said Milwaukee outfielder Jackson Chourio, who homered twice in Saturday’s setback. “I think things are going to go our way.”

For opponents of Cristopher Sanchez (8-2, 1.54 ERA), not much has gone their way this season. The Phillies’ left-hander has won six of his last seven starts, including Monday’s 5-2 triumph in Toronto in which he held the Blue Jays to two runs over seven innings.

Sanchez is looking for his eighth straight start of at least seven innings.

“I think it’s the pitch mix,” Sanchez said. “I try to play with them, what pitches they’re looking for. I try to play around with the pitches we use and the locations. Change their sights a little bit during the at-bats.”

Sanchez has made three previous appearances (two starts) against Milwaukee, posting a 2.03 ERA without a decision.

He’ll be opposed by another talented lefty in Kyle Harrison (7-1, 2.72), who has struggled in two prior appearances against Philadelphia. In those two contests, Harrison has allowed six runs and 17 hits in 8 1/3 innings en route to a 0-1 record with a 6.48 ERA.

Fast-forward to the present, though, and Harrison again is dealing with some ugly numbers on his stat sheet. Last Monday against the Athletics, he gave up eight runs and eight hits — including three home runs — in only 2 1/3 innings.

Harrison had surrendered a total of four runs in his previous seven starts.

“It’s tough to say, right? I mean, you watch that game,” Harrison said. “Yeah, I think it’s just kind of flush it, move on to the next one. Obviously, not the best stuff, not the best locations with the stuff. So yeah, just chalk it up on a crappy day in Vegas, that’s it.”

–Field Level Media