Guardians drop series finale to Cardinals, 5-3

ST. LOUIS — Nathan Church had three hits, Alec Burleson had two RBI and Jordan Walker extended his hitting streak to 11 games as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cleveland Guardians 5-3 on Wednesday. Dustin May (2-2) allowed one run on six hits and a walk and had four strikeouts in six innings. Riley O'Brien pitched a perfect ninth to earn his fifth save and help St. Louis win its second straight game. Slade Cecconi allowed one run on three hits but surrendered a career-high five walks and threw 87 pitches in four innings for Cleveland, which lost consecutive games for the first time this season. JJ Wetherholt lined a sacrifice fly to center field off Tim Herrin after Connor Brogdon (2-2) walked Victor Scott II to load the bases in the sixth inning, and Burleson hit a two-run single up the middle to pull St. Louis ahead 4-1. Church pulled a RBI double down the right-field line in the bottom of the seventh inning after Bo Naylor lined a two-run double off Justin Bruihl in the top of the seventh to cut Cleveland's deficit to 4-3. Guardians designated hitter José Ramírez fouled the first pitch he saw in the sixth inning off his right shin and was down for several minutes before finishing his at bat and grounding into a double play. In the first inning, Ramírez grounded into a fielder's choice in his franchise-record 6,040th career at bat to break Nap LaJoie's 112-year-old record. Walker lined a double to left field in the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak. Up next Guardians LHP Parker Messick (2-0, 0.51 ERA) will oppose Baltimore RHP Shane Baz (0-1, 4.50) to open a seven-game homestand Thursday.