Sunday’s Game Report: Braves 4, Cardinals 3
By Rob Rains
The Cardinals did not go into the All-Star break in a happy mood.
A disputed hit by pitch call led to a run that broke a 3-3 tie in the ninth inning on Sunday, giving the Braves the win at Busch Stadium in the final game before the break.
The call led to manager Oli Marmol’s second ejection of the season.
With two outs in the ninth and a runner on third, the umpires ruled that Michael Harris II was hit on the forearm by a pitch. The Cardinals challenged the call, but it was upheld after a video review.
The next batter, Maurico Dubon, hit a grounder to short but Masyn Winn made a bad throw to first for an error, allowing the go-ahead run to score.
The loss kept the Cardinals from sweeping the three-game series against the Braves and left them with a 50-45 record entering the break.
Here is how Sunday’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals were held to four hits, the fourth consecutive game in which they had no more than five hits. Alec Burleson doubled in a run in the first inning after Jordan Walker walked with two outs and stole second, his team-high 13th of the season … Trailing 3-1 in the sixth, Walker led off the inning with a single and Lars Nootbaar drew a one-out walk followed by a single by Winn that loaded the bases. With two outs, Jose Fermin’s single drove in two runs to tie the game … That turned out to be the final hit for the Cardinals as the Braves retired the final 10 batters in order.
On the mound: Dustin May got the start and worked four innings, giving up two runs on just two hits. He walked two and also hit two batters. One of the runs scored on a wild pitch … Back-to-back doubles off Justin Bruihl increased the Atlanta lead to 3-1 in the sixth … JoJo Romero gave up a one-out double to Ozzie Albies in the ninth before a groundout moved the runner to third before the hit batter and throwing error let the go-ahead run score.
Key stat: The RBI for Burleson was his 67th of the season. He and Walker (74 RBIs) are the first Cardinals teammates to each have 67 or more RBIs after the first 95 games of the season since Albert Pujols (86) and Jim Edmonds (67) in 2003.
Worth noting: The Cardinals’ top pitching prospect, Liam Doyle, worked a scoreless inning in the Futures Game in Philadelphia. He struck out the first two batters he faced but then walked two before picking a runner off trying to steal third … Their other player in the game, catcher Rainiel Rodriguez, had only one at-bat and lined out.
Up next: The team will be off until the season resumes on Friday night in Arizona. Walker will be participating in the Home Run Derby on Monday night before he, Riley O’Brien and Ivan Herrera will be on the NL roster for Tuesday night’s All-Star game.
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Postgame Interviews
To ear Oli Marmol and Dustin May postgame interviews: CLICK HERE
