Cardinals use power ball to bury Braves

[May 15, 2019]  Marcell Ozuna, Yadier Molina and Kolten Wong each clubbed three-run homers to power visiting St. Louis to a 14-3 win over Atlanta on Tuesday, snapping the Braves' three-game winning streak.

Ozuna hit his homer, his 12th, in the first inning to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead. Molina added his homer in the fifth inning as part of a six-run rally that put the game away. Wong tacked on yet another three-run homer in the ninth.

Molina's homer, his fourth, was the 150th of his career and leaves him two shy of tying Ducky Medwick for 12th on the team's all-time list. Molina also doubled to tie Rogers Hornsby for fifth on the Cardinals' all-time list with 367.

Atlanta native Dexter Fowler added a solo home run in the fourth for the Cardinals, his second.

Those three long balls came against Atlanta starter Mike Foltynewicz, who gave up eight runs on seven hits and three walks in 4 2/3 innings. Foltynewicz, a member of the National League All-Star team last year, dropped to 0-3 and his ERA swelled to 8.02.

St. Louis starter Jack Flaherty (4-3) pitched six innings and allowed three runs on three hits. Flaherty walked five batters and struck out six. He even contributed an RBI single in the win.

The Cardinals finally scored some runs for Flaherty. They had not gotten him a run in his two previous starts and he last received two runs in a start on April 28. Flaherty entered the game as one of two NL pitchers with at least 10 innings and no runs of support in May.

Cardinals starting pitcher Jack Flaherty (22) hits a single against the Atlanta Braves in the fifth inning at SunTrust Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Atlanta scored all three of its runs in the fifth. Charlie Culberson drove in a run with a single, Ronald Acuna Jr. drew a bases-loaded walk and Dansby Swanson hit a sacrifice fly. It was the first game Atlanta has lost since Acuna was moved back to leadoff.

The Cards also had a run-scoring double by Matt Carpenter and an RBI single by Jose Martinez in the win.

--Field Level Media

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