Atlanta Braves’ Ozzie Albies and Luke Williams (37) celebrate a victory over the St. Louis Cardinals following a baseball game Saturday, July 12, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Sean Murphy, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Marcell Ozuna homered and the Atlanta Braves rallied against St. Louis’ two top relievers to beat the Cardinals 7-6 on Saturday.
Nacho Alvarez Jr., filling in for injured third baseman Austin Riley, singled twice and scored the winning run on Jurickson Profar’s ninth-inning groundout against closer Ryan Helsley (3-1).
Murphy, who hit the two longest home runs of this season at Busch Stadium on Friday night, put the Braves ahead 6-5 with a high drive that cleared the glove of José Fermín as he leaped at the left-field wall in the eighth. The three-run shot was Murphy’s 16th homer of the season and the first allowed by reliever Phil Maton in 37 appearances this season.
St. Louis tied it when pinch-runner Garrett Hampson scored on a wild pitch by Daysbel Hernández (4-1) in the eighth.
Raisel Iglesias pitched a perfect ninth for his 11th save.
Yohel Pozo and Nolan Gorman homered, and Brendan Donovan had two hits, including an RBI single in the eighth, for the Cardinals.
St. Louis, which had been shut out in each of Erick Fedde’s previous three starts, broke through with three runs against Atlanta opener Aaron Bummer in the second inning to draw even after early home runs Acuña and Ozuna.
Pozo led off the bottom of the second with a double into the left-field corner and scored on Thomas Saggese’s RBI single. Gorman followed with a 423-foot blast to tie it at 3. Pozo added a go-ahead solo homer in the sixth.
Acuña, who pulled himself out of the home run derby in Atlanta next Tuesday, hit a 379-foot drive into the Braves’ bullpen in the first.
Ozuna clobbered a 422-foot solo shot in the second, and Alvarez made it 3-0 with a single for his first big-league RBI in nine career games.
Key moment
After the St. Louis bullpen had retired seven in a row, Profar doubled to lead off the eighth and Acuña drew a one-out walk to set the table for Murphy’s 372-foot drive.
Key stat
Murphy has seven home runs in his last 11 games. He had hit just two in his prior 33 games.
Up next
RHP Sonny Gray (9-3, 3.51 ERA) takes the mound for the Cardinals on Sunday as they look to avoid a sweep at home field. First pitch at Busch Stadium is set for 1:15. Tune in to KTLO AM 1240 to hear the game broadcast live, beginning with pregame coverage by Ameren Total Access at 12:20.
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