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NS. LOUIS (AP) – Adam Duvall and Jorge Soler homered, and Stephen Vogt drove a sacrificial fly into eventual win when the Atlanta Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-4 on Wednesday night.
Dansby Swanson went 4 for 4 with three runs scored for the Braves who switched to .500 at 54-54.
“That was a really good win for us,” said Atlanta coach Brian Snitker. “All the guys we acquired were instrumental in it. A lot of really good things happened tonight. “
Will Smith, the sixth Braves pitcher, took his 22nd save with a 1-2-3 ninth.
The win gave Atlanta its first two-game winning streak since the All-Star hiatus. The Braves have won eight of their last nine games at Busch Stadium.
Giovanny Gallegos (5-4) allowed three runs in the eighth inning as the Cardinals lost for the sixth time in 10 games. St. Louis dropped a game under .500 at 53-54.
“Look, we have a man we love to death and who has done incredible things for us for several years,” said St. Louis manager Mike Shildt of Gallegos. “They put together some tough bats. They scratched and clawed. “
With bases loaded and an out in the eighth inning, Vogt hit a fly to deep center and easily scored Austin Riley. Pinch-hitter Joc Pederson, recently acquired from the Cubs, hit a line-drive double to the right and slipped two insurance runs.
“I was just trying to get a place to drive,” said Pederson. “He kind of had my number in the past. I wanted to get the barrel of the bat on the ball. We all come to the same page so we can put together a streak. ”
The Cardinals matched the game 4-4 in the seventh on a sacrifice fly to Paul Goldschmidt’s right field. Chris Martin (1-3) failed to review two runners who double-steals to set up the scoring game.
The Braves scored four unanswered runs to go up 4-3. Duvall made his 23rd homer of the season with Reliever Ryan Helsley after Swanson hit his third single in the sixth.
“The count was 3: 1. He just threw me four fastballs, ”said Duvall. “I was looking for something. He threw up a slider and we worked on that – to deal with that pitch, and it worked. “
Atlanta had reduced the Cardinals lead to 3-2 in game five after Soler, who was picked up by the Kansas City Royals last week, had a two-out homer. Soler also had a double homer in Tuesday’s game.
“A guy like that is such a threat every time he shows up,” said Snitker. “I like having him in there.”
The Braves scored a run on a double from Guillermo Heredia in the fourth round.
Nolan Arenado, who also doubled, hit a triple homer in the first inning. His 21st home run of the season without starter Drew Smyly was achieved by Dylan Carlson and Goldschmidt, who were ahead of Arenado in the singles.
“After that we couldn’t cross on many races,” said Arenado. “It’s always great to score early and to be in the lead, but at the same time you meet a great team like the Braves. It probably didn’t affect them that much because there was so much game left. You have to give them credit. “
JA Happ made its first start for St. Louis since it was acquired from Minnesota at close of trading last week. Happ’s debut gave St. Louis its tenth other left-hander to line up that season and tie the 1993 Cardinals for most in the history of the single-season franchise.
In his previous start, Happ allowed nine runs on 10 hits through three innings to the Detroit Tigers. This time he was more effective, allowing Atlanta five hits and two runs.
HALL OF FAME WRITERS EXCELLENT
Hall of Fame reporter Rick Hummel threw Cardinals legend Willie McGee a first volunteer pitch before the game. Hummel is celebrating its 50th anniversary with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch this season.
THAT’S A SWITCH
With an infield single in the first, Carlson (100 hits) and Tommy Edman (106), the first two Cardinals became switch hitters with over 100 hits in a season since Carlos Beltran and Rafael Furcal did it in 2012.
WITH SOUTH PAWS
The Braves faced their third straight left-handed pitcher on Wednesday after seeing Brett Anderson and Jon Lester in previous games. It will be four in a row on Thursday when Wade LeBlanc makes his scheduled start against Atlanta. … St. Louis in the same week for the first time since Nov. 15-18. July 1995 sets up four left-handers in his rotation.
TRAINER ROOM
Braves: RHP Ian Anderson (right shoulder) is expected to make at least two rehab starts after being cleared off on rehab assignment with a right shoulder infection since he dropped out during the All-Star hiatus.
Cardinals: RHP Jack Flaherty (oblique) will make his third rehab start on Friday in Double-A Springfield. It will have up to 75 parking spaces. His previous two rehab appearances were for Triple-A Memphis. He suffered a slanted May 31st at Dodger Stadium.
NEXT
Braves: RHP Touki Toussaint (1-2, 4.76) last defeated St. Louis on July 19, 2018 when he threw 5 2/3 innings in a 7-3 win.
Cardinals: LHP Wade LeBlanc (0-2, 4.17) will make his 13th career appearance and his fifth start against the Braves. He threw a season high with 85 pitches and hit his season high with 5 2/3 innings, which he made without a decision in the Cardinals 5-1 win in his last start.
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