Matthew Liberatore teetered on the edge a few times, but at the end of the day gave the St. Louis Cardinals the outing they and he needed. The Cardinals offense finally came uncorked in the 4th inning to provide the runs to give St. Louis a win in Atlanta Wednesday night, but the late innings had a bit of drama.
Matthew Liberatore started the game with a solid 1st inning, but there were moments after that when he looked like he might have a repeat of recent struggles. Liberatore walked the first two batters in the bottom of the 2nd inning, but then struck out the next 3. In the bottom of the 3rd inning, he gave up a leadoff single to Jorge Mateo who stole second and then advanced to third on a wild pitch. But, instead of the wheels coming off, he struck out the dangerous Drake Baldwin. Yes, Ozzie Albies managed a sacrifice fly to Nootbaar in left to give the Braves a 1-0 lead, but Matthew struck out Matt Olson to end the Atlanta 3rd inning and minimize the damage. He would not allow any more Atlanta Braves runners in scoring position his remaining time in the game which lasted into the start of the bottom of the 6th inning. Liberatore’s stat line for the night ended up being a very impressive 5 innings only allowing 1 hit and 1 earned run while striking out 9 while walking 4.
It was the top of the 4th inning when the St. Louis Cardinals offense would come alive. It began with Nelson Velázquez who absolutely launched an 85 mph Martin Perez mistake 444 feet into the void over the center field wall tying the game at 1-1. Make sure your sound is turned up and you’ll hear the ball sound like it was shot from a cannon. BOOM!
The Cardinals were just getting started in their half of the 4th inning. Two batters later, Masyn Winn and Lars Nootbaar would single. After Blaze Jordan softly lined out to short, Nathan Church didn’t miss an 81 mph changeup and ripped it over the right field wall giving the Cardinals a 4-1 lead.
George Soriano came into the game to replace Matthew Liberatore after manager Oli Marmol took major issues with a missed check swing call from the 3rd base umpire. Soriano would pitch around the leadoff walk by Liberatore to keep the Braves off the board.
St. Louis would get a badly-needed insurance run in the top of the 6th inning when Masyn Winn walked and then stole second. He advanced to third on a wild pitch by Braves reliever James Karinchak. Blaze Jordan would then come through with a one-out sacrifice fly upping the Cardinals lead to 5-1.
George Soriano would remain in the game two outs into the bottom of the 7th inning when he gave up a walk to Mateo. JoJo Romero was brought in to finish the inning, but he allowed a single to Baldwin and then Ozzie Albies which would score Mateo reducing the Cardinals lead to 5-2.
The Cardinals would miss a chance to get that run back in the top of the 8th inning when Jose Fermin drew a one-out walk. After Masyn Winn lined out to right, Lars Nootbaar went with a pitch and hit a sharp single to left field giving St. Louis a first and third opportunity, but Blaze Jordan flew out to deep center to end the Cardinals 8th.
JoJo Romero would also be the Cardinals answer to start the bottom of the 8th inning, but he wouldn’t finish it after giving up two singles to the Braves before being taken out of the game as Austin Riley came up to the plate as the potential tying run. Ryan Fernandez, who was just activated from the IL as Ryne Stanek was placed on the paternity list, came in to face the slumping, but dangerous Riley. He would be charged with a wild pitch on his second pitch advancing both runners into scoring position at second and third. He would fortunately sneak a 95 mph four-seam fastball past Austin for the second out of the inning. The Braves then sent up pinch-hitter Rowdy Tellez to try and swing for the fences and tie the game. That didn’t happen, but Fernandez did throw another wild pitch giving the Braves a run and cutting the Cardinals lead to 5-3. Tellez would eventually walk bringing up the potential go-ahead run. Atlanta sent another pinch-hitter up in the form of Dominic Smith. Fernandez walked him, too, loading the bases. Drake Baldwin had the chance to do big damage with Fernandez being wilder than a March hare. The Cardinals fan base held its collective breath when the count reached 3-2, but after fouling off what would have been ball four, Baldwin grounded weakly out to JJ Wetherholt to end the inning. Whew.
The Cardinals could do nothing against Braves reliever Raisel Inglesias in the top of the 9th inning which meant Cardinals reliever Riley O’Brien would handle the bottom of the 9th inning with a 2-run lead. He was able to get Ozzie Albies out on a groundout to JJ Wetherholt, but Matt Olson crushed a sinker up in the zone to the center field wall for a double. That brought up Michael Harris II up to the plate as the potential tying run. He fortunately grounded out harmlessly to Masyn Winn at short as Olson advanced to third base. Mauricio Dubon was the Braves final hope, but he grounded out to short also to end the game.
The St. Louis Cardinals will take another swing at the Atlanta Braves Wednesday night as Michael McGreevy will get the start for the good guys. The Braves will send Reynaldo López to the mound for a 6:15pm central time start at Truist Park. TV broadcast available through Cardinals.tv.
