The Cardinals sent Julio Teheran to an early exit and took advantage of multiple defensive miscues while providing Carlos Martinez with ample support in Saturday night’s 12-2 win over the Braves at Turner Field.
Kolten Wong’s three-hit performance paced the Cardinals, who tallied a pair of runs in three of the first five innings to back Martinez’s determined six-inning effort. The St. Louis right-hander surrendered three straight hits to begin Atlanta’s two-run third inning and then allowed just one more hit over the remainder of his 99-pitch outing.
“We understand the type of team we have and know that we can hit,” said Wong, whose team has scored 19 runs in two days after tallying seven while being swept by the Pirates. “Hitting is contagious, and once a couple guys start getting on, it’s usually the whole team starts hitting. We have some young guys stepping in and doing some big things for us, and kicking our butt to get us going.”
As the Braves opened the season with a fourth straight loss, they saw Teheran allow five runs — four earned — over a four innings plagued by four walks, two wild pitches, a passed ball and a three-base error in the third, when Nick Markakis lost Wong’s two-out fly ball that scored Stephen Piscotty from first base.
Though each team committed three errors, the most costly ones were committed by the Braves, who recorded just one hit over the final six innings.
“We didn’t make some plays behind Julio, and he just struggled,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “There’s no pitching staff alive that survives when a starting pitcher only goes four innings. You start going into the middle relievers, and we didn’t catch the ball behind those guys either.”
Williams Perez will make his first start Sunday at 12:35 p.m. CT in the finale of this three-game series. Perez took some confidence into the offseason after posting a 2.35 ERA over his final five starts of the 2015 season. Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast of that game on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network. We begin our coverage at Noon.
