While this wasn’t another sweep, it was still another series win for the Braves, who appear to have gotten things on track — in Cobb County, at least.
The Atlanta Braves were riding high heading into the second half of their six-game homestand. They swept the Twins while taking advantage of the fact that Minnesota had been scuffling to start the season. They faced another opponent that was having a rough go of it in the form of the Cardinals but there was still a job that needed to be done. St. Louis wasn’t going to simply roll over and the Braves also got some rough news on Monday when Spencer Strider was moved back to the Injured List after he injured his hamstring playing catch. The injury bug is still around and it’s a very, very cruel creature.
Nonetheless, Atlanta had no choice but to put their heads down and persevere in order to help make sure that this was a successful homestand. The old baseball adage goes something like “Momentum is only as good as your next day’s starting pitcher,” and this was certainly put to the test for the Braves in this series. Fortunately, we’ve got some good stuff to talk about over the course of these three games for Atlanta.
Monday, April 21
Braves 7, Cardinals 6
Spencer Schwellenbach was back on the bump for the Braves in this one and while he wasn’t dominant, he did enough of a job to where Atlanta’s offense was able to eventually make something happen late while staying in the game through the early and middle portions of this contest. Schwellenbach finished with three runs allowed (two earned) over seven innings with five strikeouts and no walks. This is definitely the type of start that fits the profile of what you’d expect from him based on his performance during this season so far.
When Schwellenbach left the game, it was 3-2 Cardinals after Erick Fedde had pitched six solid innings of his own. Then, Phil Maton got the ball for the bottom of the eighth and that’s when Atlanta’s bats came alive in the late-game once again. Matt Olson smacked an RBI single to tie it, Michael Harris II hit a sacrifice fly that was deep enough to bring home the go-ahead run and then Sean Murphy blew it open with a huge three-run dinger that made it 7-3 Braves.
Raisel Iglesias got the ball in the ninth inning and while it wasn’t a save situation, the only explanation for his performance in this one is that he must’ve wanted to make it feel like a save situation because the Cardinals sure put a scare into the Braves with this top of the ninth. Georgia native Victor Scott II brought the Redbirds within three with an RBI double and then Willson Contreras brought St. Louis within striking distance with a two-run homer. Nolan Arenado came up to bat as the potential go-ahead run but he proceeded to break Statcast by accidentally making contact on a swing. The ball barely cleared home plate but it was enough to stay in fair territory so that Sean Murphy could simply pick it up, tag Arenado and make it four wins in a row for the Braves. Never in doubt!
Tuesday, April 22
Cardinals 10, Braves 4
This was supposed to be Spencer Strider’s second start and his return home but instead, his mishap while playing catch meant that this was a bullpen game. This was a tough task for Atlanta but for a while, it seemed like the bullpen was up to it. Scott Blewett performed admirably by getting into the fourth inning and then Blewett handed it off to Aaron Bummer and the Blewett-Bummer combo ended up being bad news for the Cardinals instead of the Braves.
Atlanta actually got out to a 4-2 lead in this one but then the game turned once Rafael Montero entered the game. Montero got into trouble with some walks and overall lack of command, which resulted in the Cardinals tying it up on their first attempt. Enyel De Los Santos didn’t fare much better, as he also found trouble due to handing out free passes and this time, St. Louis made him pay dearly after Nolan Gorman hit a bases-loaded double to clear the bases and put the Cardinals up 7-4.
Nathan Wiles made his MLB debut and it wasn’t one to remember, as St. Louis added three more runs to the scoreboard while he was out there to bring it to the 10-4 final score. The bullpen bent but it eventually broke and Atlanta’s winning streak was snapped at four.
Wednesday, April 23
Braves 4, Cardinals 1
If the Braves collectively had a bad taste in their mouth following Tuesday night’s defeat, the good news is that there was a quick turnaround on Wednesday as this game started at high noon. Bryce Elder got the start in this one and it was abundantly clear that he needed a good start just for his own sake and the Braves badly needed a good start out of their starter following the bullpen game on Tuesday.
Fortunately, Bryce Elder delivered and gave the Braves exactly what they all needed. Once Elder was done, he had six innings under his belt with just one run allowed. He did deal with traffic (five hits and three walks) but he slid in and out of the trouble with no huge problems on this particular day. Elder’s had a rough go of it so far in 2025 so this was definitely encouraging to see from him.
While that was going on, the Braves were having a devil of a time with Miles Mikolas, as Mikolas threw six shutout innings which meant that, naturally, Bryce Elder’s good start nearly went in vain. Fortunately, Atlanta’s lineup once again woke up in the late stage of this contest in order to stage a comeback. Michael Harris II broke his bat on a shallow blooper that found green and plated Nick Allen to tie the game at one run apiece in the seventh and then the offense pulled off another eighth-inning comeback at home. This time, the big hero was Eli White, who hit a rare home run — which was even better since it went for three runs and was a complete no-doubter as well.
Brian Snitker noted after Tuesday’s game that Raisel Iglesias would be down for Wednesday’s contest, which meant that Daysbel Hernández got the opportunity to finish this one off over the course of four outs. He gave up a single but that was all the Caridnals could muster on him as the Braves took the game and the series in dramatic fashion.
Don’t look now, but the Braves are actually starting to make some real progress when it comes to digging out of that 0-7 hole that they fell into to start the season. They’re now 10-14 and have been showing real and tangible signs of life at the plate for an extended period of time now. Sometimes it might take them waiting until the later stages of a game to strike but they’ll eventually make something happen nonetheless. Late comebacks have been part of this team’s DNA ever since they returned to relevance back in 2018 and it appears that this team will continue that trend — or at least they’ve done so to start 2025.
Now, the big question is whether or not they can keep this up on the road. While the Braves are looking mighty fine at home with an 8-3 record, they’re still sitting on an abysmal 2-11 record on the road. Things aren’t going to get much easier on this road trip, as they’ll once again be heading out West to deal with a very tough-looking Diamondbacks squad and then a trip to Coors Field that will always be tricky — even if the Rockies look completely and utterly moribund to start this season so far.
Still, if the Braves are going to get out of this mess and start working towards getting back towards the top of the NL East, they’re going to have to figure out a way to start scratching some wins on the road. Otherwise, this great home form that they’re in might end up being all for naught. For now, let’s bask in the sunbeams of success as the Braves will be getting on the plane feeling pretty good about themselves after this lovely homestand.