By MATT PIKE
Matthew Liberatore ended June on a positive note, throwing five strong innings, and Nathan Church hit a three-run home run as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves 5-3 at Truist Park.
Liberatore improved to 4-5 with the win, his first since May 31st, striking out nine and allowing one run on one hit. Coming into the game, he had a 10.34 ERA with an 0-2 record in the month of June. Riley O’Brien pitched a scoreless ninth inning and earned his 21st save of the season.
The Braves opened the scoring in the third inning when Ozzie Albies, who leads the Braves in RBI's this month with 17, drove in his first of two runs on the day with a sacrifice fly, scoring Jorge Mateo. Nelson Velázquez then started a four-run fourth inning for St. Louis with his third home run of the year before Church followed later in the inning with his sixth home run, driving in Masyn Winn and Lars Nootbaar, to give the Cardinals a 4-1 lead.
Blaze Jordan capped the scoring for St. Louis with a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Masyn Winn in the top of the sixth inning. Ozzie Albies drove in his second run of the game in the seventh inning with an RBI single, again scoring Mateo, before the Braves capped the scoring in the eighth inning when Mauricio Dubón scored on a wild pitch.
At the plate, Velázquez was 2-for-2 with the home run and a walk driving in one run. Church was 1-for-4 with the home run and three RBI's, while Nootbaar was 2-for-4 with a run scored.
St. Louis and Atlanta continue their series tomorrow. Michael McGreevy (3-6, 3.12 ERA, 57K's) takes the mound for the Cardinals against Reynaldo López (3-1, 3.47 ERA, 40K's) for the Braves. First pitch is at 6:15pm, coverage begins at 6:05 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
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