Cardinals vs Braves Recap: Liberatore Dominates, Cardinals Grab Win

The Cardinals came to Truist Park ready to make some noise. St. Louis walked in down 1-0 after the Braves scored first in the third inning. Ozzie Albies lifted a sacrifice fly to left field, and Jorge Mateo raced home with the Braves' opening run. The Cardinals weren't about to let that stand. In the fourth inning, Nelson Velazquez stepped up and crushed a hanging curve ball from Martin Perez deep into center field. The ball rocketed 444 feet and exploded off the wall. Velazquez had tied the game in style. Two outs later, Nathan Church came through with an absolute bomb to right field. His three-run shot sent Masyn Winn and Lars Nootbaar racing across home plate. The Cardinals erupted ahead 4-1 and seized the momentum before the fourth inning ended.

By the sixth inning, the Cardinals were rolling. St. Louis had momentum on its side and Atlanta's pitching was struggling to find answers. The Cardinals' Blaze Jordan stepped into the batter's box with two outs. The Braves' James Karinchak threw a 95-mile-per-hour fastball right down the middle. Jordan made contact and lofted a sacrifice fly into right field. Masyn Winn tagged up and sprinted home, extending the Cardinals' lead to 5-1. That's when things got interesting for the Braves. In the seventh inning, Ozzie Albies singled to center field and brought home Jorge Mateo to cut into St. Louis's advantage. The game was still firmly in the Cardinals' control, but Atlanta was starting to scratch their way back into it. The tension was building heading into the late innings.

The Braves made a furious run in the eighth inning. Atlanta's pitchers were struggling with control and wild pitches were flying all over the place. Ryan Fernandez threw a wild pitch that got away from him, and it allowed Mauricio Dubon to score while Mike Yastrzemski raced to third base. Suddenly the Braves cut the gap to 5-3 and the crowd at Truist Park was alive with hope. St. Louis's bullpen held strong down the stretch though. Matthew Liberatore had pitched brilliantly earlier, striking out nine batters across five innings. Riley O'Brien came in for the save and shut the door on any comeback dreams. The Cardinals walked out of Atlanta with a huge 5-3 victory. St. Louis improved to 44-38 while the Braves fell to 49-34. The Cardinals stayed breathing in the playoff race.