Braves walk past Cardinals to complete series sweep

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Austin Riley homered and Ehire Adrianza drove in the go-ahead run with the first of four straight bases-loaded walks as the Atlanta Braves scored six times in the eighth inning to complete a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals with an 8-4 victory Thursday night.

Atlanta's rally came against a Cardinals bullpen that couldn’t hold a lead for the second straight night.

Riley’s two-out, two-run homer off Giovanny Gallegos in the eighth tied the game at 4 and denied Cardinals starter Wade LeBlanc his first win in more than a year. The homer came one night after Gallegos gave up three runs in two-thirds of an inning while taking the loss.

Gallegos (5-5) was pulled for Alex Reyes after giving up a double to Dansby Swanson. Reyes hit the first batter he faced with a pitch and then walked four straight, including Adrianza, Stephen Vogt and Ozzie Albies with the bases loaded to stretch the lead. Justin Miller took over, only to walk Jorge Soler to plate another run.

Edgar Santana (1-0) got the win despite allowing an RBI single to Paul Goldschmidt in one inning of relief. Goldschmidt's hit gave the Cardinals a 4-2 lead in the seventh.

Touki Toussaint pitched 5 1/3 innings for the Braves. He allowed three runs — two earned — and five hits.

LeBlanc’s last major league win came on July 26, 2020, with the Baltimore Orioles against Boston. He pitched six innings and allowed just three hits, but two of them turned into runs on Freddie Freeman's single in the third and Joc Pederson's homer in the fourth.

Andrew Knizner’s leadoff homer and Nolan Arenado’s RBI single gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead in the third.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Braves: RHP Ian Anderson (right shoulder inflammation) threw 47 pitches over 2 1/3 innings in a rehab start at Triple-A Gwinnett. He gave...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Braves-walk-past-Cardinals-to-complete-series-16368494.php