Liberatore Gets the Ball as Cardinals Look to Take Series From Braves
The Cardinal Chronicle
Liberatore Gets the Ball as Cardinals Look to Take Series From Braves
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
The Cardinals needed Friday night.
Not because it fixed everything. One win does not erase a rough series against Milwaukee, and it does not suddenly solve every question around the rotation, bullpen or lineup.
But it did stop the bleeding.
Now St. Louis has a chance to do something more useful.
The Cardinals host the Atlanta Braves tonight at Busch Stadium in the second game of the final series before the All-Star break, looking to build on Friday’s 2-1 rain-delayed win and secure a series victory against another first-place club.
First pitch is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. CT, with left-hander Matthew Liberatore getting the ball for the Cardinals against Braves right-hander Reynaldo López.
The Braves enter at 54-39, while the Cardinals come in at 49-44. Atlanta remains on top of the National League East, while St. Louis is still trying to stay in the National League Central and Wild Card picture after a difficult week against Milwaukee.
That is what made Friday important.
The Cardinals did not play a perfect game. The offense was quiet for long stretches. The rain delay nearly swallowed the rhythm of the night. Chris Sale looked sharp before the weather interrupted his start. But St. Louis found a way to win a tight game, and after the kind of week this club had just endured, that mattered.
Jimmy Crooks delivered the biggest swing, launching a go-ahead solo home run in the eighth inning to lift the Cardinals to the 2-1 win. It was his second homer of the season and a needed reminder that the bottom of the order can still change a game when the lineup is not producing much elsewhere.
The Cardinals also got exactly what they needed from the bullpen.
Kyle Leahy opened with three scoreless innings before the rain delay. George Soriano came on after the long pause and gave St. Louis useful outs. Justin Bruihl helped bridge the middle innings. JoJo Romero handled a clean eighth and picked up the win. Riley O’Brien closed it out for his 23rd save.
After the Brewers series, where late innings had become a nightly problem, that was no small thing.
The Cardinals retired the final seven Atlanta hitters. They protected a one-run lead. They played the kind of clean, tight baseball that had been missing for much of the week.
Now comes the follow-up.
That is always the challenge in baseball. One good night is encouraging. Two good nights start to change the tone.
Liberatore gets the first chance to keep it going.
He enters tonight at 4-6 with a 5.34 ERA and 82 strikeouts. His season has been uneven, and the Cardinals need more stability from him. The stuff is there. The flashes are there. But the difference between a good inning and a damaging inning has been too wide too often.
Tonight, the assignment is clear.
Throw strikes. Get ahead. Keep the ball in the yard. Do not give the Braves free baserunners in front of the middle of the order.
Atlanta is not a club to let a pitcher search for himself. Matt Olson can change a game with one swing. Ozzie Albies remains dangerous from both sides. Austin Riley drove in Atlanta’s only run Friday. Michael Harris II gives the Braves athleticism and left-handed impact. Drake Baldwin, Joey Bart, Mike Yastrzemski and the rest of the lineup give Atlanta enough depth to make a pitcher pay for mistakes.
That means working with conviction and avoiding the kinds of innings that put the Cardinals into bullpen survival mode early. After a rain delay and a bullpen-heavy game Friday, St. Louis could use length. Even six competitive innings would go a long way toward keeping the game and the bullpen organized.
The Cardinals also need more from the offense against López.
López comes in at 4-1 with a 3.18 ERA and 51 strikeouts. His record is strong, and he has given Atlanta solid work, but the Cardinals cannot let him settle into easy early innings. St. Louis scored only twice Friday, tying the game in the sixth on Jordan Walker’s RBI single before Crooks won it in the eighth.
That was enough for one night.
It cannot become the plan.
The Cardinals need traffic. They need pressure. They need to make López work from the stretch. JJ Wetherholt’s ability to reach base remains important at the top. Iván Herrera continues to give the lineup a quality bat and on-base presence. Walker remains the biggest power threat in the order. Alec Burleson has to keep giving professional at-bats. Masyn Winn, Lars Nootbaar, Nolan Gorman, Blaze Jordan, Crooks and the rest of the lineup have to keep the Braves from pitching around the middle of the order.
Friday’s win was built on pitching and one late swing.
Tonight needs a little more offensive weight behind it.
The Cardinals do not need a crooked number in every inning. They do need to avoid empty stretches where the opposing starter cruises through the lineup on quick contact and chase swings. Against a club like Atlanta, two runs usually will not be enough every night.
This is also a chance for St. Louis to finish the first half with a better tone.
The Brewers came into Busch Stadium and took four of five. That stung. It raised fair questions about pitching depth, bullpen usage and whether the Cardinals are equipped to chase Milwaukee without real help. But the schedule did not pause to let St. Louis feel sorry for itself.
The Braves arrived, and the Cardinals answered the opener.
Now they have to back it up.
Winning tonight would give St. Louis the series before Sunday’s finale. It would mean two straight wins over Atlanta. It would give the Cardinals a chance to enter the break with some steadiness restored instead of dragging the Milwaukee series into every conversation.
A loss would not undo Friday, but it would make Sunday heavier.
That is the difference between surviving and building.
The Cardinals survived Friday.
Tonight, they can build on that win.
Liberatore gets the ball. López stands in the way. The Braves still have plenty of thunder in the lineup. The Cardinals still have plenty to prove before the break.
Take the series.
Game Info
Matchup: Atlanta Braves at St. Louis Cardinals
When: Saturday, July 11, 2026
First Pitch: 6:15 p.m. CT / 7:15 p.m. ET
Where: Busch Stadium, St. Louis
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
Records: Braves 54-39; Cardinals 49-44
Broadcast: Cardinals.TV / BravesVision
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Photo Credit: Matthew Liberatore | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images