The Cardinals Are Red Hot and the Dodgers' Bats Have Gone Ice Cold, and Sunday Could Get Ugly

The St. Louis Cardinals are on a roll. After beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 on Saturday, they've now won six straight games and sit at 20-13, a season-best seven games over .500. Meanwhile, the Dodgers are stuck in a four-game losing streak with an offense that has completely disappeared. When these two teams meet Sunday for a potential sweep, the matchup feels lopsided in St. Louis's favor.

McGreevy and the Cardinals Are Playing With Swagger

Michael McGreevy was outstanding on Saturday, tossing six scoreless innings to keep the Dodgers' struggling lineup at bay. After the game, McGreevy made it clear what his team is about: "We're going to give you hell when you play us. There were a ton of expectations put on us in the offseason, and it's been so freeing for the guys just to be able to show up and play."

Jordan Walker has been the offensive engine driving this hot streak. He crushed his 10th home run of the season Saturday and is 6-for-8 with four RBIs in the first two games of this series. Walker isn't taking the moment for granted. "It just feels nice that the work that I put in during the offseason is showing up here," he said. "Now the main focus is just keeping it consistent, and it feels like I know what it feels like, so when I get off track, just get back on."

The Dodgers' Offense Has Completely Shut Down

This is where things get concerning for Los Angeles. The Dodgers have gone five straight games without hitting a home run and have managed just three homers in their last 11 games. They also hit into four double plays on Saturday, which tells you everything about their timing and approach at the plate right now.

Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages opened the season hot, but he's ice cold now with just eight hits in his last 38 at-bats. He struck out twice Saturday. "Just trying to focus on what I can do, not focus so much on the whole," Pages said through an interpreter. "Just focus on taking good at-bats, doing good turns, not really trying to get too ahead of myself. Baseball is really hard."

Manager Dave Roberts acknowledged the struggles but sounded measured about it: "It's what every team is going to go through in baseball throughout the course of a season. I felt tonight, although it didn't show for the first eight innings, I thought the intentions were better on balls in the hitting zone." The numbers don't lie, though. Los Angeles has been held to two runs or fewer in six of its last 11 games.

What's at Stake Sunday

Justin Wrobleski (4-0, 1.50 ERA) takes the mound for the Dodgers, while Dustin May (3-2, 5.28) counters for the Cardinals. May, facing his former team for the first time after spending his first five-plus seasons with Los Angeles from 2019-25, has been sharp lately with two earned runs or fewer in each of his last four starts. The Cardinals will be hungry to complete the sweep.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.