The Atlanta Braves saw their losing streak extend to four games Friday night at Busch Stadium as they failed to erase an early deficit and ultimately fell to the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-5.
The loss drops Atlanta to 51-62 on the season and 6-17 since getting to .500 with a win against the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 16. As for St. Louis, the Cardinals have now won seven straight and are 60-56 on the season. The Red Birds have scored eight or more runs in each of their seven wins during the streak, outscoring opponents 62-27 during that stretch.
Mike Foltynewicz pitched the shortest start of his career Friday as he allowed six runs (all earned) on seven hits and issued four walks while striking out one through just 2 2⁄3 innings. He struggled with fastball command — as well as with the placement and effectiveness of his slider — and threw just 48 of his 83 pitches for strikes. The abysmal start inflates his ERA from 3.94 to 4.29.
Luke Jackson was absolutely remarkable through 2 1⁄3 innings of relief — he struck out six of the seven batters he faced without allowing a hit or issuing a walk. Sam Freeman and Jason Motte combined to throw two hitless innings of relief and help keep Atlanta in the game. Unfortunately for the Braves, Rex Brothers walked three batters and gave up a pair of runs in the eighth inning to eradicate any hopes of a comeback.
Adam Wainwright, who was making his second start for St. Louis since coming off the disabled list, didn’t appear to be on top of his game. In spite of not having his best stuff, the 35-year-old veteran worked with what he had to the tune of 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R (1 ER), 3 BB, 0 K.
Trailing by five runs in the top of the sixth inning, Freddie Freeman drew a one-out walk and later scored on a Matt Adams single to right, cutting Atlanta’s deficit to 6-2. In the subsequent at-bat, Ozzie Albies hit the second home run of his career — a three-run shot to left field that pulled the Braves within one run.
The Cardinals put the game away in the eighth inning with a two-run double from Paul DeJong, pushing their lead back out to 8-5.
Jedd Gyorko led off the bottom of the second inning by drawing a walk on a 3-2 count as Foltynewicz placed a fastball high and outside. Kolten Wong made him pay for the mistake in the ensuing at-bat by connecting on a slider left out over the middle of the plate and driving it to deep right-center for an RBI double, giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.
Randal Grichuk followed with a single to right, scoring Wong and doubling St. Louis’ advantage. Wainwright laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Grichuk to second, and Matt Carpenter did further damage with a run-scoring double to center field, putting the Red Birds up 3-0.
After walking Tommy Pham on five pitches, Foltynewicz gave up an RBI double to DeJong to give St. Louis a 4-0 lead through two innings.
Atlanta got a run back in the top of the third frame as the Braves strung together back-to-back singles and a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Freeman grounded into a double play, but a run scored to cut the deficit to three runs.
Folynewicz got Gyroko to fly out on just three pitches to begin the third inning, but things rapidly started to get out of hand. He hit Wong with a pitch in the ensuing at-bat and then gave up an RBI triple to Grichuk, putting the Braves in a 5-1 hole. Wainwright helped out his own cause with a single to center that scored Grichuk and gave St. Louis a 6-1 lead.
23-year-old right-hander Lucas Sims will make the third start of his MLB career against right-hander Carlos Martinez and the Cardinals Saturday at 7:15 p.m. ET. Through his first two starts, Sims has a line of 12 IP, 12 H, 7 R (7 ER), 2 BB, 6 K to go along with his 0-2 record and 5.25 ERA.