Thursday’s Game Report: Cardinals 11, Braves 5
By Rob Rains
On a night when starter Dustin May could not get through the first inning, the Cardinals’ offense and bullpen offered plenty of support for their teammate.
May was hit on his right ankle by a line drive as the Braves scored five runs in the first inning Thursday night in Atlanta. He faced three more batters after he was hit, then limped off the mound.
The injury was described by the Cardinals as a contusion.
Trailing 5-3 when May came out of the game, the score was the same when the Cardinals came up in the seventh and put together a seven-run inning when they had seven hits, including a two-run, game-tying homer from Nathan Church.
That was one of three homers for the Cardinals, who also got a three-run homer from Jordan Walker in the first inning and a solo homer from Alec Burleson in the ninth.
Six relievers combined to shut out the Braves over the final 8 1/3 innings, allowing just three hits.
Here is how Thursday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: Walker’s 19th homer of the season staked the Cardinals to the early lead … They had only two more hits until their outburst in the seventh, which included an RBI single by JJ Wetherholt after he twice failed to lay down a sacrifice bunt. Ivan Herrera and Walker also singled in runs, with Walker getting his fourth RBI of the game. The other RBIs came from Lars Nootbaar and Masyn Winn as the Cardinals sent 11 hitters to the plate in their second-highest scoring inning of the season … Burleson’s 14th homer was his first since June 14 … Winn had three of the team’s 15 hits and also drew a walk.
On the mound: Making his first start since June 21, May gave up five hits, walked two and only recorded two outs. He did not get an out until his 22nd pitch of the game. One of the two outs came on a sacrifice fly … Justin Bruihl, Ryan Fernandez, Gordon Graceffo, JoJo Romero, George Soriano and Matt Svanson combined to shut out the Braves the rest of the game, allowed only five combined baserunners.
Key stat: One of the hits in the big seventh inning was a pinch-hit single by Jose Fermin. It was his fifth pinch-hit of the season, one more than the rest of the team has combined in 40 at-bats.
Worth noting: It was also was a big night for prospects Joshua Baez and Rainiel Rodriguez. Baez hit two homers for Memphis, his 27th and 28th of the season, while Rodriguez hit his 11th of the year, his seventh since his promotion to Springfield. Won-Bin Cho also homered for Springfield, his fifth in eight games since he was promoted to Springfield … Also at Springfield, former first-round pick Cooper Hjerpe was activated from the injured list, nearly two years after he underwent Tommy John surgery … Manager Oli Marmol celebrated his 40th birthday on Thursday.
Up next: The Cardinals will be in Chicago for a 3:05 p.m. game on Friday that opens a three-game series against the Cubs. Andre Pallante will get the start.
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