Cardinals Two Out Hits Doom Maholm, Braves

Aug 22, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Paul Maholm (28) pitches in the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kane-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Cardinals seem to lead the world in hitting with runners in scoring position, and that trend continued on Thursday night as they defeated the Atlanta Braves 6-2, taking the opening game in the four game series.

Paul Maholm returned to the Braves rotation Thursday following a DL stint, and pitched quite well early on. Maholm worked around a pair of walks in the first inning, and allowed only one run through the first four innings. In the fifth inning, Maholm helped himself when he led the inning of for the Braves with a single to center. Then with one out, Justin Upton hit the first pitch he saw out of the park to left center, giving the Braves a 2-1 lead.

The Cardinals bounced back in their half of the fifth, with the big blows all coming with two outs. After Pete Kozma had reached on a walk, and was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Joe Kelly, the Cardinals recorded three straight doubles with two outs. Matt Carpenter, Carlos Beltran, and Mat Holliday were the culprits, and the Cardinals snatched the lead back at 4-2.

Cardinals’ starter Joe Kelly’s only blemish was the Upton home run. He would scatter seven hits in total in six innings of work, and also walked a pair of batters, but kept the damage limited.

The teams are back at it tomorrow night, when Kris Medlen (10-11, 3.71 ERA) faces Adam Wainwright (14-7, 2.66 ERA).

Notes:

Elliot Johnson made his first start for the Braves tonight at second base, after being claimed off waivers from the Kansas City Royals. Johnson went 2-4 at the plate, breaking out of an 0-31 stretch he was in while with the Royals.