The St. Louis Cardinals ended the weekend by taking on the Atlanta Braves in the last game of a three game series on Sunday afternoon. St. Louis had already won the series by winning the prior two games, and entered Sunday looking to sweep Atlanta.
But on Sunday, Atlanta was just a step better, defeating St. Louis by a score of 3-2.
For the afternoon game, the starting pitchers were Michael Wacha (11-3, 3.20) for the Cardinals, and Matt Wisler (4-1, 3.60) for the Braves.
Atlanta scored first in the top of the second inning. Andrelton Simmons led off with a ground out. Eury Perez then walked, and that was followed by a double from Ryan Lavarnway, scoring Perez to make it a 1-0 game. Later in the inning, Cameron Maybin scored Lavarnway with a single, giving the Braves a 2-0 lead.
The Cardinals were shutout until the bottom of the fourth inning. Matt Holliday led off the inning with a walk. Jason Heyward grounded into a fielder’s choice, as Holliday was thrown out a second. Randal Grichuk singled next, as Heyward advanced to second. Up next was Stephen Piscotty, who singled to score Heyward and made it a 2-1 game.
During the bottom of the fifth, St. Louis tied the game up. Kolten Wong hit a double to lead off, and Holliday singled him home to make it a 2-2 game.
But it was the following inning that Atlanta went back on top again, and held the lead for the remainder of the game. Adonis Garcia led off the inning with a solo home run (his first career home run), to give the Braves a 3-2 lead.
Sam Tuivailala entered the game in the top of the seventh to replace Wacha, whose final line of the game was: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 Ks.
During the game, Seteve Cishek made his Cardinals debut. Cishek, who the Cardinals acquired in a trade with the Miami Marlins earlier in the week, pitched a shutout inning against the Braves.
Meanwhile, Atlanta would hold onto the 3-2 lead, defeating the Cardinals, and ending their five game winning streak. Wacha now is tied with Carlos Martinez for first in wins with 11 (they both have an 11-4 record). St. Louis falls to 63-35, as Atlanta improves to 46-52.
Tomorrow, the St. Louis Cardinals begin a series against the rival Cincinnati Reds.
(Chris Lee/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
