Austin Riley, Orlando Arcia power Braves over Cards

[April 05, 2023]  Austin Riley hit a two-run homer and Orlando Arcia hit a solo shot to lift the visiting Atlanta Braves past the St. Louis Cardinals 4-1 on Tuesday.
 
 Braves starting pitcher Dylan Dodd (1-0) won his big-league debut while allowing one run on six hits in five innings. He struck out three and walked nobody. 

Apr 4, 2023; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol (37) looks on from the dugout during the eighth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

A.J. Minter closed out the ninth inning to earn his first save.

Cardinals starting pitcher Steven Matz (0-1) allowed four runs on 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out seven batters and walked one.

The Braves took a 2-0, first-inning lead when Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a leadoff single and Riley launched his second homer in as many days.

Arcia's solo homer leading off the second inning made it 3-0.

Atlanta pushed its lead to 4-0 in the third inning. Travis d'Arnaud hit a leadoff double and Sean Murphy hit two-out RBI single.

The Cardinals broke through in the fourth. Dylan Carlson and Paul Goldschmidt hit one-out singles and Willson Contreras hit a two-out RBI single to cut Atlanta's lead to 4-1.

Acuna ended the rally by throwing out Contreras as he tried to stretch the hit into a double.

Dodd worked out of another jam in the fifth inning. With two outs, Juan Yepez hit a single and Taylor Motter hit a double before Tommy Edman flew out.

Drew VerHagen relieved Matz after Murphy drew a one-out walk in the sixth inning. Eddie Rosario hit a two-out single, but VerHagen struck out Acuna.

The Cardinals threatened again in the seventh inning. Tyler O'Neill and Yepez hit one-out singles off Joe Jimenez, and Brendan Donovan hit a two-out single off Dylan Lee. But Acuna threw out O'Neill trying to score on Donovan's hit to end the inning.

Kirby Yates got Contreras to hit an inning-ending slow roller to strand two runners in the eighth inning.

--Field Level Media

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