The Cleveland Guardians played one of their best games of the season on Monday night, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 9-3 at Busch Stadium. They are now tied in first place of the AL Central with the Minnesota Twins.
The Guardians have overcome one of the toughest early-season schedules to be at the top of their division, and they deserve credit for that. On Monday, Gavin Williams was solid on the mound yet again, surrendering just a couple of runs in five innings of work.
The bullpen combined to toss four frames of just one run, and the offense contributed nine runs, 11 hits, a double, two home runs, and a couple of stolen bases for good measure.
It appears that all units are starting to click, and that development has helped Cleveland avoid losing streaks. That’s right: this team doesn’t know what it’s like to lose consecutive games yet.
#Guardians have yet to lose back-to-back games this season, beat the #Cardinals in game 1 of their series, 9-3,” FOX 8’s P.J. Ziegler posted on X.
#Guardians have yet to lose back-to-back games this season, beat the #Cardinals in game 1 of their series, 9-3.
— P.J. ZIEGLER (@PJFOX8) April 14, 2026
Cleveland alternated wins and losses with the Seattle Mariners in the first series of the season, then did the same with the Los Angeles Dodgers, taking the opener and the finale and dropping the second game.
The same thing happened with the Cubs: the Guardians took games one and three, losing the second. They were defeated in the series opener against the Royals, but took the next two to win the three-game set.
Cleveland lost its first series of the season in Atlanta, dropping games one and three and winning the second, and then took the opener at Busch Stadium on Monday.
They have won ten and lost seven, but none of the latter have come in succession. It will happen eventually, because the season is too long and the Guardians aren’t a 120-win team. But they are a very solid, underrated ballclub that knows its strengths and weaknesses almost to perfection, and above all things, they have shown the ability to bounce back mentally after tough losses.
NEXT: Guardians Have Eye-Opening Stat With Austin Hedges
