Friday’s Game Report: Braves 6, Cardinals 5
By Rob Rains
The way Friday night’s game began, it looked as if it was going to be an old-fashioned slug-fest at Busch Stadium.
In the first three innings, the Braves and Cardinals combined for as many hits, 18, as they had outs.
The problem for the Cardinals, however, was the offensive fireworks ended there and they never were able to score the run they needed to tie the Braves, losing the opener of the weekend series.
The Cardinals only had four baserunners after the third inning while their bullpen was shutting down the Braves, who only had three hits after the third, to give them a chance.
Matthew Liberatore had the rough start for the Cardinals, allowing the six Atlanta runs, including two home runs from Sean Murphy. Murphy hit a 437-homer in the first, the longest at Busch Stadium this year, but he broke that mark two innings later when he hit a 440-foot blast to dead center.
Here is how Friday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: Alec Burleson doubled in a run in the first inning, and then doubled again and scored in the third … The Cardinals loaded the bases with one out in the second but failed to score when Brendan Donovan flied out and Masyn Winn fouled out … They were more successful in the third when Pedro Pages drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single, which was followed by an RBI single from Victor Scott II … The Cardinals’ best scoring chance after that came in the seventh when Burleson drew a leadoff walk and Willson Contreras singled, but Lars Nootbaar, Thomas Saggese and Nolan Gorman were retired in order to strand both runners.
On the mound: Liberatore allowed a double, single and home run to the first four hitters he faced, quickly falling behind 3-0. He also gave up one run in the second and two more runs in the third, getting out of further trouble when Scott threw out Drake Baldwin at the plate on a fly out to end the inning … Riley O’Brien was able to strand the bases loaded in the fifth … Matt Svanson retired all eight batters he faced and JoJo Romero allowed a leadoff double in the ninth before Phil Maton got an inning-ending popup … O’Brien, Svanson and Romero combined to strike out nine batters in 5 2/3 innings.
Key stat: Before allowing the three runs in the first inning, Liberatore had allowed a total of five runs, four earned, in the first inning of his previous 17 starts this season.
Worth noting: Nolan Arenado had to come out of the game after the sixth inning because of a sprained finger. It’s the same injury that forced him to miss two games on the team’s last road trip … In his second rehab game at Memphis Friday night, Ivan Herrera went 3-of-4, including a double, and drove in a run … An RBI single from Contreras in the first inning drove in his 53rd run of the year, the most RBIs he has had before the All-Star break in his career … Murphy is only the third Brave to hit two homers in a game at Busch Stadium 3. The other two to do it were Dansby Swanson in 2019 and Andruw Jones in 2006, the year the stadium opened.
Up next: Winless in his last 10 starts, Erick Fedde will get another chance on Saturday in the second game of the series. First pitch is scheduled for 1:15 p.m.
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