After Yadier Molina’s two homers led the St. Louis Cardinals to a 3-2 win at Milwaukee Saturday
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His instinct proved correct Sunday when St. Louis capped a rough road trip with an 8-2 rout that allowed it to salvage a split of a four-game series with
the National League Central leaders and pushed it within 4 1/2 games of the
Brewers.
The Cardinals open a six-game homestand Monday night in Busch Stadium with the second of four straight series against first-place teams, facing the
Cleveland Indians.
St. Louis (40-36) scored just seven runs in its first three games in Milwaukee, whiffing 34 times, with 15 occurring in a 2-1 loss Friday night. It
fanned another 11 times on Sunday but mixed in 10 hits, including a three-run
homer by Jose Martinez to cap a five-run fourth inning that turned momentum for
good.
While the Cardinals enter the series with hope that they are turning things around, Cleveland (43-33) did so during the last week. Its 12-2 rout Sunday of
Detroit was its seventh straight win, moving it eight games ahead of the Tigers
and Minnesota Twins in the American League Central.
The Indians also appear to have the mound advantage for the series opener with Mike Clevinger (6-2, 3.00 ERA) against spot starter John Gant (1-2,
4.39).
Clevinger’s last start was one of his best this year. He notched 10 strikeouts Tuesday night in 7 2/3 innings of a 6-3 win over the Chicago White
Sox at Progressive Field. Clevinger has lasted at least six innings in five
straight starts, solidifying his place in a deep rotation.
“His fastball had really good life,” Chicago manager Rick Renteria told mlb.com. “He was keeping the ball down below the zone. You saw him get a lot of
checked swings on some of his breaking pitches … he’s got a pretty good
repertoire and was able to command consistently in the zone consistently
throughout the whole ballgame.”
Gant is starting in place of Michael Wacha
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former Atlanta Braves prospect is 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA in three starts this year,
leading some to wonder why Dakota Hudson (10-2 at Triple-A Memphis) or Daniel
Poncedeleon was not picked to replace Wacha.
In his last start, Gant lasted 5 1/3 innings on May 25 in Pittsburgh, losing 8-1 despite fanning seven and walking none. He was charged with four hits and
three runs.
Gant has made one career start against Cleveland, lasting two innings in a 2016 game for the Braves and permitting one run and three hits with two
strikeouts.
Carlos Martinez (3-4, 3.24) starts Tuesday night for St. Louis opposite Corey Kluber (11-3, 2.10). Jack Flaherty (3-2, 2.50) faces the Indians’ Shane Bieber
(2-0, 2.45) in a battle of rookie right-handers on Wednesday night.
Rodney Hood’s most significant moment in these playoffs came while sitting on the
bench.
Well, he’s getting up and getting in the NBA Finals.
Looking for an offensive weapon to negate Golden State’s size and ability to switch assignments on defense, Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said he’ll play Hood
in Game 3 on Wednesday night in hopes of cutting into the Warriors‘ series
lead.
Hood
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him refusing to check into the final minutes of a blowout win over Toronto in
the second round.
That’s not an option now.
”We’re going to give Rodney a chance,” Lue said following practice at Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday. ”He’ll get a shot and see how he does. He’s been
working, staying ready. So we’ll see.”
Lue did not specify if Hood will start, when he’ll come in, how much he’ll play or whose minutes will be affected.
Hood promised to be ready for anything.
”I don’t know when it’s going to come or what stage of the game,” Hood said. ”I’ve been preparing. I’ve been working hard, so if I get the opportunity, just
go out there and play. Just have fun.”
Trailing 2-0, the Cavs are searching for some kind of spark and could find it if the 6-foot-8 Hood can tap into some of the offensive skills that made him
attractive to Cleveland at the trading deadline.
He was acquired on Feb. 8 from Utah, and there were more than a few basketball experts who viewed the lean lefty as the best new piece on a day when
the Cavs also dealt for guards George Hill
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Lue didn’t get nearly enough in Games 1 and 2 in Oakland from J.R. Smith (5 of 19) or Kyle Korver (4 points). Korver has been completely neutralized by the
Warriors, who are not giving him any room to shoot.
”It’s hard because they switch out on everything,” Lue said. ”So all the actions you run for Kyle, they just switch out to deny and take him away. When
they are helping on LeBron’s penetration, the one guy they’re staying at home on
is Kyle. They’re not leaving his body.”
Unlike the 37-year-old Korver, Hood is quick enough to beat the Warriors off the dribble, create open space to shoot and maybe get to the rim. Defensively,
he’s got length and mobility.
He’s shown flashes. The Cavs now need him to shine steadily.
”He’s very talented,” said forward Kevin Love. ”He’s a guy that can step in and fill up a scoreboard. Left-handed. A little bit unorthodox in the way that
he plays. Just having that height on him and that wingspan, and the ability to
not only make shots, but on the defensive end to switch out. Also play a guy
like K.D. (Kevin Durant) at his size and just make it tough on both ends of the
floor for their team. That gives all of us a lot of confidence that he can come
in and make an impact.”
Hood’s short stay in Cleveland has been nondescript.
He averaged 16.8 points for the Jazz
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Still, he was in Lue’s starting lineup for the series opener against Indiana
before Cleveland got beat soundly.
Hood saw spot duty the remainder of that series, and was essentially ineffective in three games against the Raptors before Lue tried to send him into
the closing minutes of the clinching win on May 7 as the Cavs completed a sweep
of the Eastern Conference’s top-seeded team.
When Hood declined, it upset a few teammates. Hood insisted he wasn’t protesting his reduced role and explained that there had been a mix-up. He
apologized to the Cavs, many of whom laughed off the incident as minimal in a
season overflowing with juicier drama.
While waiting for another chance, Hood has received positive support from Cleveland’s coaches and former teammates, including Joe Johnson who could relate
to his plight after sitting in Houston.
Hood is confident he’s ready.
”Just going out there and try to help the team, on offense be aggressive and on defense just be physical,” he said.
Hood struggled during a playoff series with Utah against Golden State a year ago, making just 1 of 15 3-pointers and shooting 12 of 38 overall.
Those stats don’t matter now.
The only number that counts is his and will soon be called.
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