Nothing separated the teams for most of the night. Then Jimmy Crooks sent one 405 feet to center field, and the Cardinals had all they needed.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| STL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | X | 2 | 5 | 0 |
Crooks' solo home run in the eighth inning broke a 1-1 tie and gave St. Louis a 2-1 win over the Atlanta Braves on Friday at Busch Stadium. It was his second home run of the season. Jordan Walker had kept the Cardinals alive two innings earlier, singling to right to score JJ Wetherholt and tie the game at 1-1 in the sixth. Walker finished 1-for-4 with 1 RBI on the night, hitting .293 on the season with 22 home runs and 74 RBI.
Atlanta had taken the lead in the fifth when Austin Riley singled to center to score Mike Yastrzemski, putting the Braves ahead 1-0. That lead held until Walker's tying single in the sixth. Crooks then ended it in the eighth, his drive to center giving the Cardinals the margin that held up.
Riley O'Brien closed out the ninth with a perfect inning — no hits, no walks, two strikeouts — to earn his 23rd save of the season. JoJo Romero picked up his first win of the season, working a scoreless inning in the seventh. On the Atlanta side, reliever Danny Young took his first loss after allowing Crooks' home run in 1.0 inning of work. Chris Sale started for the Braves and was sharp through 3.0 innings — 5 strikeouts, 1 walk, 0 runs — but did not factor in the decision.
St. Louis improved to 49-44 with the victory. Atlanta, the NL East leader at 54-39, dropped its first game after a win.