Cardinals pitcher Matthew Liberatore, now in his first full season as a starter, will aim for a third consecutive strong outing on Sunday as he continues to shake off a rough stretch and show that his previous struggles were only temporary.
Liberatore takes the mound Sunday morning at 11:05 a.m. (St. Louis time) as the Cardinals look to complete a three-game sweep against the Guardians in Cleveland.
On Saturday, St. Louis rallied from an early 6-1 hole to earn the win.
Sunday’s game will stream exclusively for free on Roku.
Liberatore (5-6, 3.96 ERA) appears to have turned a corner, posting a 1.77 ERA over his last two starts — the latest coming against the explosive Chicago Cubs lineup.
In those outings, opponents hit just .234 against him, and he’s posted an 18% strikeout rate while generating more ground balls — resembling the dominant form he showed early in the season when he was one of MLB’s top-performing starters.
Prior to that, however, he went through a six-game slump during which hitters batted .316 off him and he carried a 10.29 ERA over a three-game stretch. He also experienced occasional drops in velocity during that time.
In his last start, Liberatore set a new personal best for big-league innings pitched (86 1/3), though he’s logged even more when factoring in minor league appearances, as noted by columnist Lynn Worthy.
Against the Cubs, Liberatore leaned heavily on his four-seam fastball, throwing it 36.5% of the time — a season high. He may look to repeat that approach against Cleveland, which ranks last in the majors in batting average against four-seamers.
Once regarded as a top prospect, Liberatore seemed to finally tap into that potential earlier this year.
Cleveland counters with lefty Logan Allen (5-5, 4.25 ERA), who’s been steady but not dominant this season. Allen hasn’t allowed more than four runs in any of his last 10 starts.
Despite lacking elite stuff, Allen has delivered results — his average exit velocity ranks seventh-lowest among 95 starters with at least 70 innings this season.
The Cardinals, currently 46-38 and sitting third in the NL Central, are eyeing their second sweep in the past four series.
Cleveland, now 40-41, has dipped below .500 for the first time since they were 5-6 back in April.