The Atlanta Braves fell to the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 in 11 innings Thursday evening in the final meeting of a four game set at Truist Park, which denied a sweep of the series for Atlanta.
That outing remained scoreless until the top of the seventh, when St. Louis got on the board with a sac fly by Albert Pujols. Michael Harris II had a solo home run for Atlanta in the bottom of that inning, which resulted in a 1-1 tie. Juan Yepez had a sac fly to break that tie in favor of the Cardinals during the top of the 10th. Matt Olson had an RBI single in the bottom of that inning to even the score at 2-2. St. Louis took the lead for good on an RBI single from Dylan Carlson in the top of the 11th.
Tyler Matzek was charged with the loss for Atlanta. Ryan Helsley secured the win, while Packy Naughton picked up the save for St. Louis.
Braves starting pitcher Spencer Strider gave up just two hits, walked two, and struck out a career-high 12 over six scoreless innings. He had nine strikeouts in a row over the first three innings.
Atlanta dropped to 49-35 on the ’22 season and remains in second place of the National League East, now three and a half games behind the New York Mets, who shut out the Miami Marlins on Thursday night. The Braves will host the Washington Nationals in a three-game division series this weekend. First pitch of tonight’s series opener is slated for 7:20 pm. Listen on WLAQ 1410 AM/96.9 FM; air time is 6:05 pm. The Nationals are in last place of the NL East at 30-55.