The Atlanta Braves fail in their comeback attempt against the Cardinals, losing 4-3

A four-run inning for the St. Louis Cardinals ended up being enough for their pitching staff to hold on in this one. The Atlanta Braves made a strong rally in the ninth inning to make a comeback, but ultimately fell short and ended up suffering a 4-3 loss in the series opener in St. Louis.

The first inning served as a dark omen for the Braves and Marcell Ozuna in particular. Atlanta’s best hitter this season hit a ton to left field, but instead of being rewarded with a visit to one of the bases, Ozuna had to turn back to the dugout after Michael Siani made a dive to end the round on the right. then and there. It was the first time a Braves player hit deep and came up empty-handed, but it wouldn’t be the last time either.

Both teams were silent for the first two and a half innings of this one and unfortunately for us Braves fans, it was the Cardinals who stood out in the third inning. While Michael Siani would end up at second base with one out following a wild pitch, it looked like Spencer Schwellenbach would be able to mitigate the damage and even escape any serious trouble after getting two outs on the board.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case as the Cardinals had to work with two outs on the board. Alec Burleson was gifted a center field cutter that he then pulled down the left field line for an RBI double that put the Cardinals on the board first. Willson Contreras marked his return from the IL with a chopper (on an 0-2 count, mind you) that got past Orlando Arcia and into the outfield for an RBI single that made it 2-0 for the Cardinals. Schwellenbach once again got two strikes off Brendan Donovan, but Donovan put one out of Ozzie Albies’ glove for another single to make it 3-0.

Schwellenbach had two more strikes, but the next run he gave up wasn’t really because he was beaten by the batter. Instead, Sean Murphy tried to catch Donovan stealing second place. Arcia took the hold and Donovan started running a recap. During the recap, Nolan Gorman slipped down the line and scored before Donovan was hit to end the inning 4-0 in favor of the Cardinals. Just like that, this game quickly went from a duel of budding pitchers to St. Louis suddenly feeling a little comfortable in the lead.

It didn’t take long for the Braves to respond, however. While it would have been nice to see that solo shot magically turn into a grand slam, we all had to settle for Austin Riley’s deep fly in the fifth inning, simply putting the Braves on the board in this one. The Braves fell down order after the home run, but at least things were starting to look a little more manageable for Atlanta to complete any necessary comeback.

Both teams remained silent for the next two frames and both teams used their relievers at the end of the seventh inning. In fact, Marcell Ozuna came to the plate to face Lance Lynn in the seventh inning and Ozuna got a pitch he really liked to the edge of the zone. Ozuna punched him and sent him flying into the hot St. Louis sky. If it had been hit in 18 other stadiums (Truist Park not included), the Braves would have made it 4-2. Instead, it was yet another big bang for Ozuna and although Lynn didn’t finish the seventh inning, Ryan Fernandez took care of Sean Murphy to finish the seventh to ensure he This was a much-needed quality start for Lynn.

Atlanta had another chance to get back on the scoreboard in the eighth inning and it was their best chance of the game thus far. Forrest Wall and Zack Short both walked with one out in order to get something going, then suddenly the Braves had a bit of a stew on the basepaths when Wall and Short hit a double steal with one out. After Jarred Kelenic retired, Ozzie Albies was the Braves’ last great hope.

Ozzie was up for the challenge, as he took a poorly placed slider and put an absolute charge on it. Instead of the ball landing in the seats and making it a tie game like almost everyone in the stadium thought after Albies’ contact, the ball landed in Michael Siani’s glove on the warning track to put end the inning and give Atlanta another moment of frustration. when it came to hard hit fly balls tonight.

Once the ninth inning ended, the Braves were now faced with the daunting task of facing Ryan Helsley while down three runs. For what it’s worth, Atlanta tied it at the plate in short order after Marcell Ozuna led off the ninth with a walk, then Matt Olson followed with a single. Sure enough, the Braves loaded the bases and suddenly had the winning run at the plate after Sean Murphy coaxed a Helsley out with just one out. Ramón Laureano ingratiated himself with Braves country by hitting a base hit to right to make it a 4-2 game and make things really interesting by bringing the sizable portion of Braves fans still in the game back into the game. stadium.

A sacrifice fly from batter Travis d’Arnaud made the score 4-3, which meant either Zack Short would continue the game or Ryan Helsley would end it there. Unfortunately, Short was unable to completely turn the game around as Helsley ultimately called for Short to strike out to condemn the Braves to a loss.

While the Braves were pretty quiet in this one and Spencer Schwellenbach was once again the victim of a bad inning that threw his start sideways, it definitely looked like a vintage Braves game towards the end as Atlanta launched into his furious attempt to return. It was a nice try on Atlanta’s part, but ultimately they failed and that’s just the nature of baseball. They’ll be back at it tomorrow night at 7:45 p.m. PMET with Reynaldo López having the opportunity to help the Braves in their bid to bounce back from tonight’s loss. Let’s also hope Orlando Arcia is OK after being forced to leave tonight’s game due to dizziness.