Michael Harris II drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly and Sean Murphy followed with a three-run homer in the eighth inning as the Atlanta Braves came from behind to beat the visiting St. Louis Cardinals 7-6 on Monday and extend their winning streak to four games.
The five-run rally against reliever Phil Maton (0-1) started when Austin Riley beat out an infield single, which was originally called out but overturned after replay. Marcel Ozuna walked and Matt Olson tied the game at 3-3 with an RBI single to right, sending pinch runner Eli White to third. After Ozzie Albies walked to load the bases, St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol was ejected while changing pitchers.
JoJo Romero entered and Harris hit a fly to right that was deep enough to score the speedy White. Murphy followed with his fifth homer, a deep shot to left field.
The winning pitcher was Daysbel Hernandez (2-0). Closer Raisel Iglesias allowed three runs in the ninth inning, including a two-run homer to Willson Contreras. After a walk, Iglesias got Nolan Arenado to ground out to end the game, though Iglesias did not get a save.
Neither starting pitcher figured in the decision. St. Louis’ Erick Fedde threw six innings and allowed only two runs on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts. Atlanta’s Spencer Schwellenbach pitched seven innings and allowed three runs (two earned) on eight hits with five strikeouts.
The Cardinals scored twice in the second inning. Nolan Gorman started the rally with a two-out double, then scored after Pedro Pages singled to right field and Olson threw high when trying to throw behind Gorman at third base. Pages scored on a single by Victor Scott II.
The Braves tied the game in the fourth inning when Riley hit a 412-foot homer to left field, a two-run shot and his sixth long ball of the season. It was the seventh homer in the last 12 games against the Cardinals for Riley and the 10th of his career against St. Louis.
The Cardinals went ahead 3-2 when Arenado doubled, went to third on second baseman Albies’ fielding error and scored on Gorman’s single to right.
