Cardinals top Braves again Saturday
ATLANTA — Mike Leake won his fourth straight decision, and Matt Carpenter and Matt Adams homered as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves 5-3 on Saturday night.
Aledmys Diaz went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs to help the Cardinals improve to 12-5 after beginning the season 3-9.
Leake (4-1) allowed three hits on three runs and two walks while striking out two in seven innings. He held the Braves to just one hit before Matt Kemp doubled in the seventh and scored on Adonis Garcia’s three-run homer.
Leake gave up a single to Nick Markakis in the second and retired the next 12 batters before pinch-hitter Lane Adams reached on third baseman Greg Garcia’s throwing error in the sixth.
The Cardinals led 1-0 in the first on Diaz’s RBI single, 3-0 in the third on Carpenter’s sixth homer, 4-0 in the fourth on Adams’ first homer, and 5-0 in the seventh on Diaz’s sacrifice fly.
Braves ace Julio Teheran (2-3) gave up four runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out three in five innings. His ERA rose 36 points to 4.69 in seven starts, more bad news for a pitching staff that has given up 45 runs in its past five games. Atlanta has lost five of six. Trevor Rosenthal, the second St. Louis pitcher, got Freddie Freeman to fly out and end the eighth with a runner on. Cardinals closer Seung Hwan Oh earned his seventh save in eighth opportunities, retiring Kemp, Markakis and Adonis Garcia in the ninth.
St. Louis starters have a 3.29 ERA, best in the majors.
Atlanta shortstop Dansby Swanson isn’t hurt, but manager Brian Snitker gave the youngster the night off. Swanson went 0-for-4 Friday, dropping him to 1-for-10 this homestand. He is hitting .150 with two homers and six RBIs in 100 at-bats.