Sean Murphy goes yard twice, Braves stave off Cardinals

Sean Murphy hit two homers and drove in three runs as the visiting Atlanta Braves edged the St. Louis Cardinals 6-5 Friday night.

Ronald Acuna Jr. went 3-for-5 with two doubles, an RBI and a run for the Braves.

Atlanta third baseman Austin Riley went 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run before departing the game in the fourth inning due to lower abdominal tightness.

Braves starter Grant Holmes allowed five runs on nine hits in three innings. Five Atlanta relievers combined to blank the Cardinals for the last six innings. Enyel De Los Santos (3-2) earned the victory and Raisel Iglesias earned his 10th save.

Pedro Pages drove in two runs for the Cardinals and Alec Burleson hit two doubles, scored twice and drove in a run.

Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado exited after six innings due to a sprained right index finger.

St. Louis starter Matthew Liberatore (6-7) allowed six runs on nine hits and a walk in three innings.

Atlanta jumped to a 3-0 first-inning lead against him. Acuna led off the game with a double, moved up on a one-out wild pitch and scored on Riley's single.

Murphy followed with a 437-foot homer.

The Cardinals responded in their half of the inning. Brendan Donovan hit a single, took second on a groundout and scored on Burleson's double. Willson Contreras hit an RBI single to cut Atlanta's lead to 3-2.

The Braves pushed their lead to 4-2 in the second inning when Michael Harris II hit a double and scored on Acuna's single.

Atlanta's lead grew to 6-2 in the third. Murphy hit his second homer, a 440-foot shot for his 15th of the season, then Jurickson Profar hit a double and scored on Drake Baldwin's single.

After a walk and a bunt put two runners in scoring position, Baldwin was thrown out at home trying to score on a fly ball.

In the bottom of the inning the Cardinals loaded the bases with Burleson's double and two walks. Pages hit a two-run single, and Victor Scott II hit an RBI single to cut the lead to 6-5.

--Field Level Media