Cardinals power their way past Braves

Field Level Media|published: 07/21/2024, 4:17pm EDT

Jul 21, 2024; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt (46) reacts after hitting a home run against the Atlanta Braves during the second inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

The visiting St. Louis Cardinals hit four solo home runs to back the solid effort from starting pitcher Miles Mikolas and beat the Atlanta Braves 6-2 on Sunday in the rubber game of their three-game series.

The win gave St. Louis a 4-2 win in the season series and pulled the Cardinals to within 2 1/2 games of Atlanta in the race for the National League's first wild-card berth. It was the first time St. Louis has won the season series against Atlanta since 2017.

Paul Goldschmidt, Alec Burleson, Lars Nootbaar and Willson Contreras all went deep for St. Louis.

Burleson was 2-for-5 with two RBI, giving him an RBI is six straight games and six RBI in the series. Burleson has recorded 41 of his 59 RBI since June 1, the most in the National League during that stretch.

Mikolas (8-8) pitched six innings and allowed two runs on seven hits, one walk and three strikeouts. The St. Louis defense turned three double plays behind him.

Ryan Fernandez, Andrew Kittredge and Ryan Helsley each threw a scoreless inning to finish the game

Atlanta rookie Spencer Schwellenbach (3-5) pitched six innings and allowed four runs on seven hits -- three of them home runs -- and eight strikeouts. The loss snapped his two-game winning streak.

Atlanta second baseman Ozzie Albies was injured in the ninth inning. Albies banged his glove on the shoulder of base-stealer Michael Siani and was holding his left arm while exiting the field.

Goldschmidt got St. Louis on the board in the second inning and ended an 0-for-12 skid with a solo homer, his 14th. Burleson added a solo shot, his 18th, in the third inning.

The Braves cut the lead to 2-1 in the third on Jarred Kelenic's solo homer, his 11th.

Nootbaar hit a solo homer, his seventh, in the fourth inning, and Burleson added a run-scoring single in the fifth for a 4-1 advantage.

The Braves rallied for a run in the fifth when Ramon Laureano doubled and scored on Orlando Arcia's single.

St. Louis tacked on a run in the eighth when Conteras went deep against reliever Jesse Chavez for his 11th homer.

--Field Level Media