A go-ahead home run by Adonis Garcia helped the Braves halt the Cardinals’ five-game winning streak and avoid a three-game sweep with a 3-2 win at Busch Stadium on Sunday.

Having lost an early two-run lead, the Braves got a jolt when Garcia connected for his first home run in his fourth career game. Cardinals starter Michael Wacha (11-4) served up the blast in the final inning of his six-inning start.
“To drive a ball out of the ballpark, especially in this ballpark, which is a fair ballpark, into the right-field bullpen, that’s some pop,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said.
Ryan Lavarnway and Cameron Maybin tallied RBI singles off Wacha in the second.

“Early on, I was just having a little trouble finding the strike zone, leaving some balls up in the zone,” Wacha said. “[I] gave up an 0-2 hit [to Maybin] that drove in a run. I’ve got to do a better job with those counts and being able to put them away and not give those up.”
Braves starter Matt Wisler picked up his fifth win in seven career starts by limiting the Cardinals to two runs over seven innings. The Cards peppered the rookie for seven hits, but they had three innings end with a runner stranded at third.

After a weekend full of offensive frustration, the Braves cobbled together a pair of second-inning runs. Lavarnway doubled home Eury Perez, then Maybin singled home Lavarnway, who has hit safely in all seven games he’s played in since the Braves acquired him from Baltimore in June. Atlanta also benefited from a pair of walks in the second.

“That was nice to kind of break the ice there,” Gonzalez said. “We had some nice at-bats against Wacha. … He kind of settled in a little bit and gave his team an opportunity to win the game, but we had some good at-bats. We really did.”
Wacha wobbly: Though he did last long enough to throw six innings for the 14th time this season, Wacha labored early. He threw 51 pitches over the first two innings and allowed eight baserunners (three via walks) in the first three. Over his last three starts (17 innings), Wacha has allowed 13 runs.

“There were a couple things that happened today that would have made that look radically different,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “Some of those are outside his control. That’s pitching, too. You’re going to have plays not happen. You’re going to have calls not go your way. You have to figure out a way to get through it.”
When the Braves called up Garcia on Saturday, Gonzalez admitted he knew little more about the 30-year-old Cuban than that he wielded a potent bat. Atlanta was in need of one, having just traded Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe, and Garcia came through with his first career home run to put the Braves ahead 3-2 in the sixth.

“I’m twice as happy now that I hit a home run,” Garcia said through a translator. “I accomplished my dream by getting up here to the big leagues, and I’m just happy that I was able to help the team win as well.”  The Cardinals tied the game in the fifth with a pair of doubles. Kolten Wong stretched a single into a two-base hit to lead off the inning, then moved to third on a groundout and scored easily when Matt Holliday sliced a double into the right-field corner. The Cards rank second in the National League with 174 doubles.

In his first start since injuring his wrist on June 17, Braves All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman went 1-for-4 with a broken-bat single in the third inning.

Former Baltimore outfielder Nick Markakis and the Braves continue a 10-game road trip when they open a three-game set on Monday night against the Orioles at 6:05 CT, with left-hander Alex Wood on the mound.  Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast beginning at 6:00 PM.

Nashville struck first but the New Orleans’ bats responded, swiftly defeating the home team 9-6 at First Tennessee Park on Sunday night.

With Sounds primary leadoff hitter Craig Gentry given the night off, Joey Wendle stepped into the tone-setter role in the first inning and performed admirably, tripling to start the game. Next batter Andy Parrino drove Wendle in and the next two batters – Ryan Roberts and Jason Pridie – followed suit loading the bases with no outs. Parrino then scored on a wild pitch and the other runners moved into scoring position. Roberts would score on a Dayan Viciedo sacrifice fly and the Sounds led 3-0 after one.

That lead would not hold however, as New Orleans batted around in the fourth inning springing for five runs off Nashville starter Nate Long (2-3), ending his day after 3 2/3 innings pitched. Aaron Kurcz came in out of the Nashville ‘pen to retire the final out of the frame.

Isaac Galloway continued to be a thorn in Nashville’s side collecting a two-out, two-run single off Kurcz the following inning. The outfielder entered the series hitting just .235 this season, but has at least one hit and one RBI in each of the three games (5-for-12, 6 RBI) in the series.

Phil Coke relieved Kurcz pitching a scoreless sixth before surrendering an RBI single to Jhonatan Solano in the 7th inning. Galloway then came around to score on a wild pitch by Coke, extending the New Orleans lead to 9-3.

Nate Freiman attempted to spark some momentum for the Sounds, leading off the 7th with a solo homer off former Sounds pitcher Chris Narveson. Two batters later, Wendle hit a ground-rule double. He then scored when an innocuous fly ball off the bat of Roberts fell between the Zephyrs second baseman and right fielder.

Carson Blair duplicated Freiman’s effort to start the ninth inning, taking Lay Batista’s offering over the wall in left to make the game 9-6. Nashville could not capitalize on the momentum however, falling by the same score.

Looking to avoid the sweep, the Sounds will send Barry Zito (6-7, 3.54) to the mound Monday night. He will be opposed by impressive Marlins’ prospect Jose Urena (6-1, 2.44). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

With an eighth-inning sacrifice fly off Braves reliever Luis Avilan, rookie Stephen Piscotty interrupted a pitchers’ duel between former teammates and lifted the Cardinals to a 1-0 win over Atlanta. The victory, which came in front of a Saturday night sellout of 45,862 at Busch Stadium, gave the Cards their sixth five-game winning streak of the season.

Returning to St. Louis for the first time since being traded away last November, Shelby Miller matched Carlos Martinez through seven scoreless innings. The Cardinals finally broke through in the eighth, which opened with a Yadier Molina single and a walk to Randal Grichuk. With one out, Piscotty delivered a pinch-hit sacrifice fly to give the Cardinals their 11th final at-bat win of the year.
Martinez, who took Miller’s rotation spot this year, pitched a career-best eight innings as he became the National League’s fourth 11-game winner. He worked around a bases-loaded jam in the second en route to his 11th consecutive quality start.

“I think that’s his best outing we’ve seen, just from the fact that he gives up a couple hits and as soon as he does, he’s throwing some of the best sinkers maybe we’ve ever seen from him to induce groundballs, double plays,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “That usually tends to be the next step a guy takes, figures out how to be a little stingier with his pitches. … Just a phenomenal start from him.”

Miller found himself as a hard-luck loser again. He remains winless since mid-May and has made nine starts in which he’s received no run support.  “It was everything you expect it to be,” Miller said. “It was a lot of fun. Obviously, a tough game and we kind of lost it at the end, but other than that, on my part, I felt good. We made some key defensive plays, got some double plays that were huge and got us out of a little jam.”

Piscotty is still waiting to make his first start at Busch Stadium, but in the meantime, he collected his first career RBI in a key spot. After initially sending Dan Johnson up as a pinch-hitter with runners on the corners and one out, Matheny swapped out Johnson for Piscotty, once the Braves countered with the lefty Avilan. Piscotty worked a six-pitch at-bat before lifting a fly ball just deep enough to right to allow pinch-runner Pete Kozma to score.

Miller received a lengthy ovation from Cardinals fans when he came to the plate in the second inning, but he struck out with the bases loaded in what turned out to be the Braves’ best scoring chance of the game. A.J. Pierzynski and Adonis Garcia had singled before him, and Martinez intentionally walked Andrelton Simmons with two outs so he could face Miller.

“I like the way we battled against a tough pitcher in Martinez, and when he gives you an opportunity, you’ve got to take advantage and we didn’t today,” Gonzalez said. “He made some nice pitches also.”

For the 13th time in Miller’s 20 starts, the Braves scored three runs or fewer, and for the 10th time they scored two runs or fewer. Miller’s record is 0-6 when Atlanta scores between 0-2 runs.

Atlanta first baseman Freddie Freeman woke up expecting to play for the club’s rookie league affiliate in the Gulf Coast League, but when that game was rained out, he successfully lobbied to be activated for the first time since injuring his wrist on June 17. He arrived in the second inning and flied out to left field as a pinch-hitter in the seventh. He remained in the game at first base.

Rookie right-hander Matt Wisler gets the nod for his seventh big league start on Sunday at 1:15 p.m. CT, as the Braves are expected to welcome Freeman back to their lineup.  Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast beginning with the pregame show at Noon.

Brad Mills was one out away from going the distance, turning in a solid start but taking a loss in the 3-1 defeat to the New Orleans Zephyrs on Saturday evening at First Tennessee Park.

Mills got the ball in the second game of the series and cruised his way through the first three innings. He sat the first 11 batters down in order, remaining perfect until a two-out walk in the fourth. The lefty kept the ball low in his 19th start of the season, mixing in his changeup to help him tie a season high with six strikeouts.

The Zephyrs posted two of their runs in the fifth off the Sounds starter. Austin Nola worked a one-out walk, one of three free passes that Mills conceded, and would score on the team’s first hit of the night. The knock came off the bat of Isaac Galloway, who smoked a healthy triple into the gap in right-centerfield. An errant throw from Craig Gentry short-hopped the cutoff man and Galloway ended up scoring to put the visitors in front 2-0.

The two-run fifth never seemed to bother Mills, who delivered a career-high 8 2/3 innings. He induced his team-leading 18th groundball double play in the sixth and notched his 10th quality start of the season. Ozuna spoiled Mills’ hopes of a nine-inning start by ripping a 3-0 pitch just over the leftfield wall to force his exit. The 8 2/3 innings marked the longest start by a Nashville pitcher this season.

Jason Pridie and the Sounds finally broke the seal in the seventh inning and cut the deficit in half. Pridie led off the inning with a single that dropped when Marcell Ozuna took a step back and slipped on his way to make a play on the shallow fly ball to centerfield. After swiping his second bag of the night, the All-Star eventually plated on a RBI groundout from Nate Freiman.

Nashville outhit New Orleans, 6-3, but was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and dropped their fourth straight game. Pridie led the offense with a pair of singles.

Game three of the four-game set commences on Sunday night at First Tennessee Park. The Sounds will have Nathan Long (2-2, 4.32) make the start and the Zephyrs are expected to throw Robert Morey (1-2, 2.83) in the 6:35 p.m. game.