Cardinals Need to Turn the Page and Move On with the Braves in Town
The Cardinal Chronicle
Cardinals Need to Turn the Page and Move On with the Braves in Town
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
The Cardinals do not need to carry the Milwaukee series one step farther than the clubhouse door.
It is over.
It was frustrating, poorly timed and damaging in the division race, but there is no value in dragging it into the weekend. The Brewers came to St. Louis, took four of five, exposed the Cardinals’ pitching concerns again and left town with a firmer grip on the National League Central.
Now the Cardinals have one job.
Turn the page.
St. Louis opens a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves tonight at Busch Stadium, the final set before the All-Star break. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. CT, with right-hander Kyle Leahy getting the ball for the Cardinals against veteran left-hander Chris Sale.
The Cardinals enter the series at 48-44, while Atlanta comes in at 54-38. The Braves remain a first-place club in the National League East, but they have not been rolling smoothly. Atlanta has had its own uneven stretch, yet arrives in St. Louis after taking a road series from Pittsburgh and showing signs that its offense may be waking up again.
That makes this series dangerous.
The Cardinals are trying to steady themselves. The Braves are trying to build momentum before the break. Both clubs need to feel better when they leave Busch Stadium than they did when they arrived.
For St. Louis, the need is more urgent.
The Brewers series started with opportunity and ended with frustration. The Cardinals had a 3-0 lead Monday and lost. They were swept in Tuesday’s doubleheader. Michael McGreevy gave them a needed win Wednesday, but Thursday’s finale slipped away early as Milwaukee jumped ahead, survived Jordan Walker’s three-run homer, and left St. Louis with an 8-4 loss.
That is the kind of series a team has to learn from, not live in.
The Cardinals cannot undo the bullpen strain. They cannot replay the seventh innings. They cannot get back the missed chances with runners on base. What they can do is make sure the Braves do not walk into Busch Stadium and take advantage of a club still staring at yesterday’s box score.
That starts with Leahy.
Leahy enters the opener at 7-4 with a 3.86 ERA and 73 strikeouts. He has given the Cardinals valuable innings this season, and they need another useful start tonight. Against Atlanta, the assignment is not complicated, but it is demanding: throw strikes, avoid free baserunners, keep the ball in the yard and do not let the Braves’ middle order bat with traffic all night.
That last part matters because Atlanta still has enough thump to punish mistakes.
Matt Olson remains a serious power threat. Ozzie Albies can change a game from both sides of the plate. Michael Harris II gives the Braves athleticism and damage potential. Joey Bart and Mike Yastrzemski both had big moments in Pittsburgh, and Atlanta closed that series with enough offense to suggest the Braves may be finding their swing again.
Leahy cannot pitch around the whole lineup.
He has to attack.
The challenge is Sale on the other side.
Sale enters at 9-6 with a 2.27 ERA and 112 strikeouts, and he remains one of the tougher left-handed assignments in the league. He earned his 10th All-Star selection last weekend and still has the kind of delivery, angle and breaking ball that can make hitters look uncomfortable quickly.
The Cardinals cannot let his reputation beat them before the first pitch.
Against Sale, the approach has to be disciplined without being timid. Make him throw strikes. Stay off the slider when it starts outside the zone. Do not give him quick outs by chasing early. But when he makes a mistake, the Cardinals have to be ready to do damage.
This is not a night for passive baseball.
Jordan Walker enters the weekend as the Cardinals’ most obvious power threat and one of the club’s biggest storylines heading into the break. His three-run homer Thursday cut into Milwaukee’s lead and came as he prepares for his Home Run Derby appearance. The power is real. The moment is growing. Now the Cardinals need that impact to show up in games that still count in the standings.
But this series cannot become Walker-or-nothing.
Alec Burleson has to keep giving professional at-bats. Iván Herrera has to reach base. JJ Wetherholt and Masyn Winn have to create pressure. Lars Nootbaar, Nolan Gorman, Nelson Velázquez, Blaze Jordan, Pedro Pagés and the rest of the lineup have to help lengthen the night.
The Cardinals do not have to beat Sale with one swing.
They have to make him work.
Saturday brings another difficult matchup, with Braves right-hander Reynaldo López scheduled to face left-hander Matthew Liberatore. López enters at 4-1 with a 3.18 ERA and 51 strikeouts. Liberatore enters at 4-6 with a 5.34 ERA and 82 strikeouts.
For Liberatore, the outing matters. The Cardinals need him to give them more stability, especially after a week where the pitching staff was pushed hard by the five-game series against Milwaukee. He does not need to be perfect, but he has to be competitive in the strike zone and keep Atlanta from building early innings.
Sunday’s finale is scheduled to feature Braves right-hander Hurston Waldrep against Dustin May. Waldrep enters at 0-1 with an 8.44 ERA, while May comes in at 5-6 with a 4.55 ERA and 85 strikeouts.
May’s start will be worth watching closely. He has had flashes where he looks like exactly the kind of power arm the Cardinals need, but the consistency has not always been there. His health and efficiency matter as much as his stuff. If the Cardinals are going to enter the break feeling better about the rotation, May finishing the first half with a clean start would help.
The defense has to clean up the extra outs. The bullpen has to reset. The starters have to provide enough length to keep the game from becoming a nightly scramble. The offense has to stop waiting for one big swing and start building innings with traffic, pressure and execution.
The standings are still the standings. The Cardinals are still in the race. But after Milwaukee came into Busch Stadium and made the gap feel larger, St. Louis cannot afford to sleepwalk into the break.
This weekend is not about catching anyone in three days, it is about stopping the slide before the All-Star Break.
The Braves are not an easy opponent, and Sale in the opener makes the first assignment even tougher. But this is also the kind of series that can change the taste of a week. Win two of three, and the Cardinals head into the All-Star break having responded. Get swept, and the Milwaukee series becomes part of a bigger problem.
That is what is on the table.
The Cardinals have played enough baseball to know that one bad series does not have to become a bad month. But they also know bad baseball can snowball if a club lets it.
The Brewers are gone.
The Braves are here.
Leahy gets the ball tonight.
It is time to turn the page and play better baseball.
Series Info
Matchup: Atlanta Braves at St. Louis Cardinals
Dates: Friday, July 10 through Sunday, July 12, 2026
Venue: Busch Stadium, St. Louis
Friday, July 10
First Pitch: 7:15 p.m. CT
Probable Pitchers: LHP Chris Sale vs. RHP Kyle Leahy
Sale: 9-6, 2.27 ERA, 112 SO
Leahy: 7-4, 3.86 ERA, 73 SO
Broadcast: Apple TV
Saturday, July 11
First Pitch: 6:15 p.m. CT
Probable Pitchers: RHP Reynaldo López vs. LHP Matthew Liberatore
López: 4-1, 3.18 ERA, 51 SO
Liberatore: 4-6, 5.34 ERA, 82 SO
Broadcast: Cardinals.TV / BravesVision
Sunday, July 12
First Pitch: 1:15 p.m. CT
Probable Pitchers: RHP Hurston Waldrep vs. RHP Dustin May
Waldrep: 0-1, 8.44 ERA, 9 SO
May: 5-6, 4.55 ERA, 85 SO
Broadcast: Cardinals.TV / BravesVision
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Photo Credit: Kyle Leahy, St. Louis Cardinals | MLB