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The St. Louis Cardinals scored seven runs in the seventh inning to beat the Atlanta Braves 11-5 on Thursday night at Truist Park, taking the series finale in front of an announced crowd of 34,524. The Braves led 5-3 entering the frame before the bullpen imploded.
Nathan Church started the damage with a two-run homer to right-center off Tyler Kinley that tied the game at 5-5. The Cardinals then went to work on Dylan Lee.
JJ Wetherholt, Ivan Herrera and Jordan Walker strung together run-scoring singles against Lee, Lars Nootbaar added an RBI double and Masyn Winn brought home the inning’s seventh run with a fielder’s choice against Ian Hamilton.
Kinley was charged with three runs while getting two outs and fell to 4-3 with the loss. Lee retired only one batter and was tagged for three runs of his own.
The meltdown came from a group that entered Wednesday’s game with a 2.76 ERA, the best bullpen mark in the major leagues, and followed with four perfect innings that night in a 5-1 Braves win over St. Louis.
It also spoiled an encouraging return from Hurston Waldrep. Making his first major league start of 2026, the 24-year-old pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on five hits with one walk and four strikeouts, departing with Atlanta in front. All three runs came on Walker’s three-run homer in the first inning, which briefly put St. Louis ahead 3-0.
Waldrep missed the first three months of the season following a February 23 elbow procedure and began a rehab assignment in early June. He made his 2026 debut last Friday with two relief innings behind Reynaldo Lopez before Braves manager Walt Weiss confirmed to reporters that he would step into the rotation spot of the struggling Bryce Elder. Having thrown no more than 71 pitches in any outing during his rehab stint, Waldrep entered Thursday on a limited workload.
Atlanta’s offense did all of its work in the first inning against Cardinals starter Dustin May, who recorded just two outs and gave up five runs on five hits and two walks. Dominic Smith keyed the rally with a three-run double to center, and May exited with a right ankle contusion after a Smith line drive struck his ankle.
Walker finished with four RBIs for St. Louis, and Alec Burleson tacked on a solo homer in the ninth inning for the Cardinals’ 11th run.
The result gave the Cardinals the series two games to one after they took Tuesday’s opener 5-3, and the win moved St. Louis to 45-39. Thursday’s loss dropped the Braves to 50-35, though Atlanta ended the night still 2 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Philadelphia Phillies (49-39) in the NL East.
Atlanta opens a home series against the New York Mets on Friday, with right-hander Grant Holmes (4-4, 3.96 ERA) scheduled to start.
Continue reading...
Nathan Church started the damage with a two-run homer to right-center off Tyler Kinley that tied the game at 5-5. The Cardinals then went to work on Dylan Lee.
JJ Wetherholt, Ivan Herrera and Jordan Walker strung together run-scoring singles against Lee, Lars Nootbaar added an RBI double and Masyn Winn brought home the inning’s seventh run with a fielder’s choice against Ian Hamilton.
Kinley was charged with three runs while getting two outs and fell to 4-3 with the loss. Lee retired only one batter and was tagged for three runs of his own.
The meltdown came from a group that entered Wednesday’s game with a 2.76 ERA, the best bullpen mark in the major leagues, and followed with four perfect innings that night in a 5-1 Braves win over St. Louis.
It also spoiled an encouraging return from Hurston Waldrep. Making his first major league start of 2026, the 24-year-old pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on five hits with one walk and four strikeouts, departing with Atlanta in front. All three runs came on Walker’s three-run homer in the first inning, which briefly put St. Louis ahead 3-0.
Waldrep missed the first three months of the season following a February 23 elbow procedure and began a rehab assignment in early June. He made his 2026 debut last Friday with two relief innings behind Reynaldo Lopez before Braves manager Walt Weiss confirmed to reporters that he would step into the rotation spot of the struggling Bryce Elder. Having thrown no more than 71 pitches in any outing during his rehab stint, Waldrep entered Thursday on a limited workload.
Atlanta’s offense did all of its work in the first inning against Cardinals starter Dustin May, who recorded just two outs and gave up five runs on five hits and two walks. Dominic Smith keyed the rally with a three-run double to center, and May exited with a right ankle contusion after a Smith line drive struck his ankle.
Walker finished with four RBIs for St. Louis, and Alec Burleson tacked on a solo homer in the ninth inning for the Cardinals’ 11th run.
The result gave the Cardinals the series two games to one after they took Tuesday’s opener 5-3, and the win moved St. Louis to 45-39. Thursday’s loss dropped the Braves to 50-35, though Atlanta ended the night still 2 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Philadelphia Phillies (49-39) in the NL East.
Atlanta opens a home series against the New York Mets on Friday, with right-hander Grant Holmes (4-4, 3.96 ERA) scheduled to start.
Continue reading...
