ATLANTA BRAVES REACH .500 WITH A VICTORY OVER ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

The Atlanta Braves are back at .500 with a 7-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night in game two of a three-game set at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO.

The Cardinals opened the scoring on a three-run homer by Nolan Arenado in the bottom of the first inning. But the Braves struck back with an RBI double by Guillermo Heredia in the top of the fourth, a solo home run by Jorge Soler in the fifth, and a two-run homer from Adam Duvall in the sixth.

The Cards tied it up at 4-4 on a sac fly from Paul Goldschmidt in the seventh. But the Braves broke that tie on a sac fly from Stephen Vogt and added some insurance with a two-run double from pinch hitter Joc Pederson in the eighth.

Chris Martin secured the win in relief, and Will Smith picked up the save for Atlanta. Starter Drew Smyly gave up three runs and six hits, walked one, and struck out two in just four innings. St. Louis reliever Giovanny Gallegos took the loss.

The Braves improved to 54-54 on the season and remain in third place of the National League East, still two and a half games behind the division-leading New York Mets. The Cardinals are now below .500 at 53-54 and in the third place of the NL Central. The Braves will go for the sweep of the Cards in the teams’ series finale this evening at 8:15 pm. That outing will be broadcast on WLAQ 1410 AM and 96.9 FM; air time is 7 pm.