The St. Louis Cardinals needed a series win, and bad, against the Atlanta Braves after being thoroughly outplayed in a four-game sweep at the hands of the New York Mets. Coming into the series, the Cardinals were 1-8 on the road and the offense was in an lull after an impressive start to the season.
Game one was definitely one to forget after the Cardinals wasted another quality start from Erick Fedde. After leading late, the Cardinals bullpen imploded and the team lost 7-6 in the first game of the series. The second game saw more back and forth after the team blew another early lead, but strong bullpen pitching and a late offensive outburst stopped the Cardinals losing streak at five games. In game three, the Cardinals got a quality start from Miles Mikolas but their mediocre bullpen could not hold a lead when an eighth inning home run sunk the Cardinals for yet another series loss, moving their road record to 2-11 on the season.
GAME ONE (L 7-6)
This is one that the Cardinals definitely wish they could have back. Starter Erick Fedde was coming off two straight quality starts and looked to keep that streak alive against a Braves team that just swept the Twins for their first sweep of the year.
After teams traded zeroes in the first inning, the Cardinals jumped on Braves starter Spencer Schwellenbach with two outs in the second. Nolan Gorman smashed a 104.9mph double and catcher Pedro Pages followed up with a 102.3mph single, who then moved up to third thanks to an error, to get the Cardinals on the board. Atlanta-native Victor Scott II kept the inning rolling with an infield single to drive in Pages and after Scott stole second, the inning finally ended when Lars Nootbaar flied out.
Fedde kept the Braves off the board in the bottom of the inning but gave up the lead in the third when a lead-off walk came back to bite the righty. Austin Riley, who was in the middle of a 2-for-17 stretch, turned on an inside sinker and deposited it 412 feet away for a game-tying two-run homer. After each starter gave up two runs through their first three innings, they settled in and put up zeroes until the sixth.
Nolan Arenado started the inning with a double and Jordan Walker reached on a one-out error before Gorman came through again when he sat on a curveball and lined it to right to drive in Arenado and move Walker to third. With runners on the corners and one out, Schwellenbach was able to work out of the jam without any further damage, striking out Pages before getting a pop out from Scott. Fedde’s day ended after a scoreless sixth inning, notching his third quality start in a row after striking out three in his outing. Schwellenbach set the Cardinals down in order in the seventh inning to tally his first quality start of the year, giving up two earned runs despite giving up eight hits.
After Kyle Leahy kept the Cardinals ahead 3-2 in the seventh, manager Oli Marmol went to reliever Phil Maton (0-1) in the eighth. Maton, the Cardinals lone free-agent signing, had been a lockdown reliever all year, not allowing an earned run in his first nine appearances but that streak came to a screeching halt on Monday. Maton got a strikeout to start the inning and looked to get the second out but that call was overturned and ruled that Riley beat the throw to first for a single. The inning unraveled quickly after that. After a walk, Matt Olson drove in the tying run with a single and after Maton walked another batter, Marmol called on lefty JoJo Romero to keep the game tied. This move quickly backfired as Romero allowed a sacrifice fly to Michael Harris before Sean Murphy delivered the final blow, a three-run homer to left that put the Braves on top 7-3.
Even after a miserable eighth, the Cardinals refused to go down without a fight in the ninth but the four-run deficit was too much to come back from against Braves closer Raisel Iglesias. Pages and Scott hit back-to-back one-out doubles and, after Nootbaar lined out, Willson Contreras hit his second homer of the year, a two-run blast to make the score 7-6. After Brendan Donovan walked, Arenado came up with a chance to tie the game but an accidental check swing turned into a one foot ground ball that the catcher grabbed and tagged Arenado out at the plate to end the come back bid and extend the Cardinals losing streak to five games.
GAME TWO (W 10-4)
The Cardinals hit a bit of luck during their tough roadtrip when it was announced that Spencer Strider landed on the injured list after experiencing a hamstring injury playing catch. The late injury made the Braves adjust their pitching plans and rather than call up someone from the minors or adjust their current rotation, they used Scott Blewett in an extended opener role.
Even against a reliever-turned-starter for a day, the Cardinals offense was unable to get to Blewett in the first two innings but finally broke through as he ran out of gas in the third. An opener will typically go one, maybe two, innings but the third inning was a problem for the righty. After a three-hit day in game one, Victor Scott II stayed hot with a hard line drive single to start the inning. With one out, Lars Nootbaar, who was in the middle of a 1-for-17 mini slump, swung at the first pitch he saw in his next at-bat and hammered it for a two-run home run, his fourth of the year. Contreras followed up with a hustle single and took advantage of a Jared Kelenic misplay in right and ended up on third but the Cardinals were unable to drive him in for an insurance run.
Andre Pallante was great in the first two innings and pulled a Houdini act in the third inning to keep the Cardinals ahead 2-0. After getting two quick outs, Pallante ran into the teeth of the Braves lineup and loaded the bases when he allowed a single and two walks. The righty was able to wiggle out of the inning when he got Ozzie Albies to chase a 94mph fastball out of the zone for an inning-ending strikeout. Pallante’s luck would run out in the fourth, however, when game one’s nemesis Sean Murphy hit a solo home run to cut the lead to one. After a Kelenic double, Pallante got a groundout but the Braves offense capitalized with the runner in scoring position when Alex Verdugo tied the game with a double of his own and, after moving to third on a wild pitch, was driven in by an Austin Riley single to put the Braves ahead 3-2.
The home team Braves kept the pressure on Pallante in the fifth when Matt Olson hit his fourth homer of the year, which ended the day for Pallante. Marmol then went with lefty Steven Matz (2-0), who was moved back into the bullpen temporarily after making one start in the six-man rotation, to cover the middle innings. Matz was able to end the inning without any further damage and kept the deficit at two runs.
Masyn Winn, fresh off of the injured list due to a bad back, chipped away at the lead when he hit a bases-loaded single to left, knocking in Alec Burleson, who started the inning with a single. Winn’s base hit kept the bases loaded with Jordan Walker and Scott drawing walks earlier in the inning against reliever Rafael Montero. The Braves then called upon Dylan Lee to put out the fire but Lee uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Walker to score the tying run. Lee would eventually get Nootbaar out with a strikeout and then intentionally walked Contreras to get the lefty-lefty matchup against Nolan Gorman, who flew out to center to end the inning with a 4-4 score.
Matz was spectacular in his 2.2 innings of relief, giving up one hit and no runs while striking out two Braves hitters and keeping the game tied while also providing some length to a taxed bullpen. The lefty’s ability to keep the Braves off the board allowed the Cardinals to finally bust through against the fifth pitcher of the day in Enyel De Los Santos (1-1). Scott knocked a one-out double and moved to third on a wild pitch. After a Winn strikeout, the Braves opted to intentionally walk Nootbaar, who promptly stole second base, putting runners at second and third with two outs. Willson Contreras drew a huge walk after falling behind in the count to extend the inning to Gorman’s spot and the lefty took advantage of the mismatch on the mound and hit a three-run double down the right field line to put the Cardinals ahead 7-4 going into the bottom of the eighth.
Marmol called upon Kyle Leahy for the 12th time this season and the righty kept things rolling with a 1-2-3 inning in a huge shutdown spot. With one out in the top of the ninth, closer Ryan Helsley, who had not pitched in five days, was warming up for a save opportunity but the Cardinals offense removed that possibility with big insurance runs in the inning. Scott came up with two runners on and smacked his second double of the day and sixth hit of the series, driving in one run. Winn then knocked in another with a sacrifice fly before Nootbaar drove in Scott with a single for a 10-4 lead going into the bottom of the inning.
The long layoff and the fact that Helsley was already warm meant that the closer would pitch in this game regardless and he showed signs of a little rust, allowing two walks before striking out Matt Olson and getting Ozzie Albies to lineout, ending the game and the Cardinals losing streak.
GAME THREE (W 10-4)
The Cardinals kept the offensive vibes going against Braves starter Bryce Elder after he struggled with his command early. He walked Lars Nootbaar on four pitches but bounced back on a double play ball before walking Nolan Gorman. Elder’s command issues continued when he uncorked a wild pitch, moving Gorman to scoring position, who was promptly driven in on a Nolan Arenado double to give the Cardinals a quick 1-0 lead.
Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas had to work around plenty of traffic in his first two innings and his defense helped him out to keep the Cardinals ahead. In both innings, Mikolas allowed a runner to reach third with two outs but got out of each inning unscathed. The second inning started with a walk but he got two straight outs before a single put runners on the corners with the top of the Braves order coming up. However, the runner on first broke too early on a steal attempt and Mikolas threw over and Alec Burleson nailed the runner at second before the runner at third could cross the plate.
The Cardinals had runners in scoring position in the fourth and fifth innings but were unable to cash in any additional runs against Elder. Mikolas was able to match Elder’s ability to get out of danger and each pitcher ended up throwing six innings as each starter tallied their first quality starts of the year.
Once the bullpen took over, it was a brand new ballgame. Lefty John King was called on to preserve the one-run lead in the seventh but, after a strikeout to start the inning, King allowed a double and a single to tie the game. Manager Oli Marmol had seen enough as the Braves got to the meat of their order and brought in Kyle Leahy for the third day in a row. The Cardinals most consistent reliever answered the call by striking out Austin Riley looking and getting the dangerous Marcell Ozuna to pop out and keep the game tied.
In the top of the eighth inning, the Cardinals once again had runners in scoring position with two outs thanks to a Contreras walk and Burleson single but Daysbel Hernandez (3-0) was able to get Jordan Walker swinging to end the St. Louis threat. JoJo Romero (1-3) was called upon with an opportunity to right the ship after a tough start the year but he was greeted by a 109.5mph single off the bat of Matt Olson. Ozzie Albies followed up with a single of his own but this one only traveled a total of three feet in the air. Romero was able to get a soft groundout to the catcher but the runners moved up 90 feet with just one out. Marmol quickly pulled the plug on Romero and brought in Ryan Fernandez to put out the fire.
Fernandez, like much of the bullpen outside of the main three guys, has also struggled since an impressive 2024 season so this was a big spot for the righty to come in. Marmol did not have many remaining options but this one bit him quick as the first batter, Eli White, smashed a hanging slider 434 feet to put the Braves up 4-1. Fernandez ended the inning with a strikeout but the damage was done.
Hernandez remained in the game for the Braves for the ninth and quickly ended any chance for a Cardinal comeback. The loss sealed the Cardinals’ second straight series loss and moved their road record to 2-11 on the season.
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