May Gets the Ball as Cardinals Look to Take Series in Atlanta
The Cardinal Chronicle
May Gets the Ball as Cardinals Look to Take Series in Atlanta
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
The Cardinals came to Atlanta with a chance to make something of this road series.
Now they need to finish it.
After splitting the first two games against the Braves at Truist Park, St. Louis returns Thursday night for the rubber game of the three-game set, looking to take the series and avoid letting another winnable road opportunity slip away.
First pitch is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. CT, with right-hander Dustin May getting the ball for the Cardinals against Braves right-hander Hurston Waldrep.
The Cardinals enter the finale at 44-39, while Atlanta comes in at 50-34 and still sits atop the National League East. The Braves had been scuffling before this series, but Wednesday night showed why a first-place club is never something to treat lightly. Atlanta beat St. Louis 5-1, evened the series, and reminded the Cardinals that one good opener does not carry over by itself.
Tuesday belonged to St. Louis. Wednesday did not.
In the opener, the Cardinals got a strong start from Matthew Liberatore, home runs from Nelson Velázquez and Nathan Church, and a 5-3 win that gave them a chance to grab control of the series. But in Game 2, the offense went quiet after the first inning. Iván Herrera doubled, Jordan Walker drove him in, and then Atlanta pitching shut the door.
The Braves retired the final 20 Cardinals hitters.
That is not a slump. That is a shutdown.
Michael McGreevy deserved a better fate Wednesday. He gave the Cardinals six solid innings, allowing two runs on three hits, but the offense never gave him a second run to work with. Atlanta’s bullpen handled the rest, and the Braves added late insurance to turn a tight game into a 5-1 loss.
Now May gets the chance to answer.
May enters at 5-6 with a 4.30 ERA, a 1.20 WHIP and 77 strikeouts. His season has had some uneven turns, and after recently having his schedule adjusted because of back tightness, this is an important start for more than one reason. The Cardinals need him healthy, but they also need him effective. This staff is thin enough that every stable outing matters.
When May is right, he gives the Cardinals something different. The power sinker, cutter and heavy movement can keep hitters uncomfortable and produce the kind of contact a defense can handle. The key is command. If he is ahead in counts, he can attack. If he starts falling behind, Atlanta has enough bats to make the night long in a hurry.
The assignment is straightforward.
Give the Cardinals length. Keep the ball on the ground. Avoid free passes. Do not let the Braves’ middle order bat with traffic on the bases all night.
That last part matters because Atlanta still has plenty of damage in the lineup. Ozzie Albies did the heavy lifting Wednesday with a double, a solo home run and two RBIs. Matt Olson remains the top power threat. Michael Harris II has been one of Atlanta’s most consistent bats. Austin Riley snapped an 0-for-17 skid with an RBI single Wednesday, and that is the kind of thing that can wake a hitter up if pitchers are not careful.
Even with Ronald Acuña Jr. on the injured list, this lineup is not harmless.
For St. Louis, the offensive approach against Waldrep has to be sharper than it was Wednesday. Waldrep comes in with limited big-league work this season, carrying a 0-0 record and a 0.00 ERA over two innings, but the small sample does not mean the Cardinals can sleepwalk into the matchup. Young pitchers can be wild, uncomfortable, fearless or all three. The Cardinals need to find out early.
That means patience without passivity.
Make Waldrep throw strikes. Make him work from the stretch. Make Atlanta’s defense handle the baseball. But when he gives the Cardinals something in the zone, they cannot let it pass by. After Wednesday’s final 20 hitters went down in order, St. Louis cannot afford another night of passive at-bats and empty innings.
Walker remains the central power threat in the lineup, entering the finale with 18 home runs and 59 RBIs. His RBI single Wednesday gave the Cardinals their only run, but St. Louis needs more than one swing or one run from the middle of the order. Alec Burleson, Herrera, JJ Wetherholt, Masyn Winn, Blaze Jordan, Jimmy Crooks and the rest of the lineup have to help lengthen the night.
The Cardinals do not have to turn the finale into a slugfest.
They do have to get traffic.
The formula is not complicated. Get runners on base. Force Waldrep into stressful innings. Make the Braves use the bullpen earlier than they want. Give May a lead and let him work with it.
That is how this series can still turn back toward St. Louis.
The larger picture remains what it has been for weeks. The Cardinals are contenders because the standings say they are still in the fight. But they are flawed enough that games like this carry extra weight. They cannot keep wasting strong starts. They cannot keep letting the offense disappear for long stretches. They cannot keep asking the pitching staff to live on a one-run margin every night.
Thursday gives them a clean chance to fix the tone before leaving Atlanta.
Win, and the Cardinals take a road series from a first-place club. Lose, and the opener becomes a missed opportunity, and the road trip leaves another sour taste.
That is the beauty and cruelty of a rubber game.
Everything before it sets the stage.
But the final game writes the line.
May gets the ball. The Cardinals need the bats to show up behind him. And if St. Louis wants to leave Atlanta feeling like a contender, this is the kind of game it needs to win.
Game Info
Matchup: St. Louis Cardinals at Atlanta Braves
When: Thursday, July 2, 2026
First pitch: 6:15 p.m. CT / 7:15 p.m. ET
Where: Truist Park, Atlanta
Probable Pitchers: RHP Dustin May vs. RHP Hurston Waldrep
May: 5-6, 4.30 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 77 SO
Waldrep: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 SO
Records: Cardinals 44-39; Braves 50-34
Broadcast: Cardinals.TV / BravesVision / MLB.TV
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Photo Credit: Dustin May, St. Louis Cardinals | AP Photo/Kayla Wolf