Church and Velázquez homer, helping Cardinals beat free-falling Braves
5-3
[July 01, 2026]
ATLANTA (AP) — Nathan Church hit a three-run homer, Nelson
Velázquez added a solo shot and Matthew Liberatore threw five strong
innings as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the NL East-leading Atlanta
Braves 5-3 on Tuesday night.
Velázquez started a four-run fourth inning with his third homer of the
year — a 444-foot shot to center field that tied the game at 1. Church
followed later in the inning with his sixth homer of the season, a
three-run shot, to increase the lead to 4-1. |
Atlanta Braves' Jorge Mateo (2) steals second base against St. Louis
Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn (0) in the third inning of a baseball
game, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart) |
|
Liberatore (4-5) struck out nine and allowed one run on one hit.
Coming into the game, Liberatore had a 10.34 ERA in the month of
June. Riley O’Brien pitched a scoreless ninth inning and earned
his 21st save of the season.
Jordan capped the scoring for St. Louis with a sacrifice fly to
right field that scored Masyn Winn in the top of the sixth.
Martín Pérez (6-5) allowed four runs and five hits in five
innings for Atlanta.
Ozzie Albies, who leads the Braves in RBIs this month with 17,
drove in two runs. He had a sacrifice fly in the third and an
RBI single in the seventh. Despite loading the bases in the
eighth, Mauricio Dubón was the only Braves player to score,
doing so on a wild pitch.
Drake Baldwin snapped an 0-for-36 slump with a single in the
seventh. Atlanta went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position
and left 10 on base against the Cardinals.
The Braves (49-34) have lost 13 of their last 17 and have a 2
1/2 game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies in the division.
Up next
Atlanta RHP Reynaldo López (3-1, 3.47 ERA) faces St. Louis RHP
Michael McGreevy (3-6, 3.12 ERA) in the second game of the
series on Wednesday.
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