CLEVELAND — Wednesday’s Game Report: Indians 7, Cardinals 2
The problem for Kwang Hyun Kim and the Cardinals on Wednesday wasn’t how many hits he gave up – it was how far four of them went.
Kim allowed a career-high four homers, three of which came in the span of four batters in the third inning, as the Indians earned a split of the two-game series in Cleveland and dropped the Cardinals back to the .500 mark for the season.
The loss snapped Kim’s five-game winning streak, during which he allowed a combined total of three runs.
Nolan Arenado was struck by a pitch near his right elbow in the fifth inning and had to come out of the game. The initial diagnosis was that he had a right forearm contusion. His status was said to be day to day.
Here is how Wednesday’s game broke down:
At the plate: Dylan Carlson has involved in both of the Cardinals runs. He beat out an infield single to lead off the first inning and later scored on a single by Yadier Molina … In his next at-bat in the third, Carlson hit his 11th homer of the season … The Cardinals had just seven hits in the game, going 1-of-7 with runners in scoring position.
On the mound: Kim had never allowed more than two home runs in any start in his career. He only allowed five hits before coming out of the game after 2 2/3 innings, the shortest outing of his 25 career starts for the Cardinals … The Indians added two runs off Justin Miller in the fourth before John Gant, Luis Garcia and Andrew Miller combined to pitch four shutout innings.
Key stat: Kim came into the game having not allowed a home run in his last six starts, against a combined total of 132 batters.
Worth noting: Kim became only the third Cardinals starter in the last 10 years to allow four home runs in a game. The others were Adam Wainwright against the Cubs in 2019 and Lance Lynn in 2017 … Miles Mikolas is scheduled to make his second rehab start for Memphis on Thursday night. He is expected to throw about 40 to 45 pitches.
Looking ahead: After a day off on Thursday, the Cardinals return home and continue interleague play with a series against the Minnesota Twins beginning on Friday night. Wade LeBlanc is the scheduled starter.
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