Braves fight back to beat Cardinals 3-2

Charlie Morton had a solid performance and Eddie Rosario and Ozzie Albies stepped up late to help the Atlanta Braves win 3-2 over the St. Louis Cardinals in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader.

Morton started his afternoon off well, retiring the first seven batters he faced to start the game. Pedro Pages and Michael Siani ended the streak with back-to-back singles in the third inning, but Morton came back and struck out Masyn Winn and Alec Burleson to keep the game scoreless.

Willson Contreras singled to lead off the fourth inning, but was brought down by Jarred Kelenic as he tried to double. Morton then walked Paul Goldschmidt, but got Brendan Donovan to ground out for a double play to end the inning.

The Braves offense struggled to get going against Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Gibson. Travis d’Arnaud singled with one out in the second inning but was left behind. Austin Riley singled to lead off the fourth inning, but Matt Olson was grounded out by a fly out before Marcell Ozuna grounded into a double play.

Morton allowed a one-out single to Lars Nootbar in the fifth, but retired Pages on a groundout and then retired Siani on a swing to keep the game scoreless.

The Cardinals finally broke through in the sixth inning. Winn sent a grounder to right that Adam Duvall misplayed in the corner. The official scorer ruled it a triple, which was one of the worst scoring calls we’ve seen this season. Burleson followed with a single to right to put St. Louis up 1-0. Morton retired the next three batters in order and left to start the seventh inning.

Morton had a good outing, allowing six hits, one walk and one run in six innings. He struck out four batters while throwing 94 pitches.

Dylan Lee took over for Atlanta in the seventh and quickly served up a solo home run to Nolan Arenado to make it 2-0.

The Braves finally made some noise in the seventh inning. Gibson retired the first two batters to start the inning before d’Arnaud singled to left field. That was the end for Gibson, as the Cardinals had to call the bullpen for Ryan Fernandez. Rosario greeted him with a two-run home run that cleared the right-field wall to tie the game.

Joe Jimenez pitched a scoreless eighth inning and the Braves threatened again. Orlando Arcia walked to start the inning and was replaced by pinch-runner Zack Short. Kelenic, who is in the midst of an 0-for-25 stretch, elected to bunt and move Short to second base. However, the move didn’t work as Ozzie Albies was struck out before Riley grounded out, leaving Short stranded.

Raisel Iglesias walked with two outs to keep the game tied in the ninth inning. Atlanta threatened to win the game again on a one-out single by Marcell Ozuna. Ozuna was replaced by pinch-runner Eli White, who advanced to third base on another single by d’Arnaud. However, the Braves were again unable to get a key hit as Andrew Kittredge struck out Rosario and then walked Duvall to send the game into extra innings.

Pierce Johnson entered the game in the 10th inning and struck out pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter to start the inning. Winn followed with a single to left field that put runners on the corners. Burleson then sent a sharp line drive to Olson at first base who caught it and stepped on base for an inning-ending double play.

The Braves finally got the win in the 10th inning. Duvall led off at second and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Short. Kelenic drew a walk before Albies hit a fly ball to the outfield that allowed Duvall to score and give Atlanta a walk-off victory.

The Braves open the second half of the season with a win and improve to 54-42 on the season. They will face the Cardinals again in the night game with Bryce Elder facing Sonny Gray.