ATLANTA -- Even when he hit into loads of bad luck in 2023, Alec Burleson proved that he could be a high-level hitter for the Cardinals. And this season, as he has mostly supplanted Paul Goldschmidt as the Redbirds' No. 2 hitter in the order, Burleson proved that he’s able to bang the ball around with the best of them with a stretch that’s almost as good as the stars of baseball.

On Saturday, Burleson faced another big prove-it moment: He had to deal with the pressure of performing in front of roughly a dozen family members who made the drive from North Carolina to watch him play two games against the Braves.

Burleson, the Cardinals’ hottest hitter for weeks, proved himself up to that challenge by going 3-for-4 with three more RBIs as the Cardinals beat the Braves 9-5 in Saturday’s Game 2.

All Burleson did in Saturday’s doubleheader was pound out four hits and drive in four runs to extend his RBI streak to five games. The biggest thrill for him was doing it in front of his parents, Jason and Betty, his brother Bradley, wife Mary and a host of other family members and friends.

“Being from North Carolina, this is probably the closest game that they came come to, so it was so nice to have them in the stands, and I got to see them in between games,” said Burleson, who was a key cog in a Cardinals’ offensive attack that pounded out 14 hits, built leads of 5-1 and 6-2 and pulled away late. “Being able to share these moments with them is great. And then being able to perform in front of them is pretty nice, too.”

Nobody on the Cardinals has performed better offensively than the left-handed-hitting Burleson, who played left field in Game 1 and was the DH in Game 2. He came into the day with 12 home runs and 35 RBIs since June 1 -- gaudy numbers that put him in the MLB ranks along with megastars Aaron Judge (41 RBIs since June 1 before Saturday) and Shohei Ohtani (15 home runs since June 1 before Saturday). Burleson came out of Saturday leading the Cardinals in batting average (.292), slugging percentage (.492), OPS (.815) and RBIs (57) this season, and he is one off in home runs (17) after teammate Nolan Gorman smashed his 18th in Game 2’s second inning.

“I didn’t know that, but I just want to continue to help this team win games,” said Burleson, who drove in the Cardinals’ first run in both games on Saturday -- each time after rookie shortstop Masyn Winn had tripled. “I’m a big part of this offense, but if you look at tonight, I [came up to the plate five times] with a runner on third and less than two outs. So, that speaks to Masyn and [Michael] Siani getting on base. Yeah, it’s good to be mentioned with those guys [such as Judge and Ohtani], but I’m just trying to do what I can to help this team win.”

The Cardinals' offense was so prolific in Saturday’s nightcap that they were able to win despite staff ace Sonny Gray surrendering four solo home runs -- three of them coming in the sixth inning when the Braves surged to cut their deficit to 6-5.

Burleson helped jump-start a three-run top of the ninth to give the Cardinals some much-needed breathing room -- especially after they squandered a 2-0 lead in Game 1 and lost 3-2 in 10 innings. His single through the right side drove in Siani to open the floodgates.

“I’ve had the luxury of playing with [Burleson] since ’21, and he was learning a lot last season, but his contact skills are amazing,” said Cardinals standout Brendan Donovan, who hit his ninth home run of the season in Game 2. “He hits pitches that are about to bounce, obviously he’s hammering pitches in the middle of the plate and he even hits pitches at his eyeballs. It’s amazing how he can hit everything hard.”

Burleson doesn’t think it will be hard to continue his success into the second half if he continues to stay within himself. He admitted he didn’t even feel that good at the plate after getting stranded in Detroit last Sunday while trying to fly back to North Carolina over the break. That snafu didn’t allow him to hit as much as he wanted, but his four-hit day showed just how good his bat-to-balls skills are.

“I have a ton of confidence in him because he’s a hitter and he can wake up and hit,” Cards manager Oliver Marmol said of Burleson. “He’s taken his singles, but he can leave the yard when he needs to.”