By MATT PIKE
The St. Louis Cardinals avoided being swept by the Atlanta Braves winning 5-4 at Busch Stadium on Sunday afternoon, and entered the All Star Break at 51-46 record within shouting distance of a Wild Card spot.
The game was a long one, with two rain delays that totaled 4 hours, 2 minutes.
The Cardinals took the lead in the bottom of the second inning. Masyn Winn led the inning off with a walk, and stole second base, before scoring on a single by Victor Scott II. The Braves though tied it up the next inning, scoring in the third inning, three straight singles by Nick Allen, Jurickson Profar, and Matt Olson, with Olson’s hit driving in Allen for the tying run.
The game went into it’s first delay in the bottom of the third, once it resumed Atlanta took the lead in the fifth inning, scoring two runs again thanks to a Olson, another single driving in Michael Harris II and Profar, just before the game again went into a rain delay. After waiting through the delay, St. Louis stormed back to tie the game again.
Scott II walked to lead off the top of the bottom half of the fifth inning, and with two outs, Alec Burleson singled before Willson Contreras hit the game tying double, dropping it between two defenders, driving in both runners. With the go ahead run in scoring position though, Thomas Sagesse lined out to right field to end the inning.
Mmmmm drop! pic.twitter.com/F9N6EmzBo9
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) July 13, 2025
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Cardinals took the lead back for the first time since the second inning, as José Fermín hit his first career home run, a two run shot to left field that scored Masyn Winn who led off the inning with a single. Atlanta scored their final run in the next inning, Harris II scoring on a fielding error after leading off the inning with a double.
First career big league home run for José Fermín! 💥 pic.twitter.com/sv1KhTe4x7
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) July 13, 2025
Gordon Graceffo earned the win in relief, improving to 3-0 on the season, pitching 1 2/3 innings and giving up one run on one hit while striking out three. Ryan Helsley earned his 19th save pitching one inning and giving up one hit, walking one, and striking out one. At the plate, Burleson was 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.
St. Louis is now off until Friday for the All Star Break. They are back in action on Friday in Arizona against the Diamondbacks.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.
