ATLANTA -- Before the Cardinals’ 5-3 win over the Braves at Truist Park, manager Oliver Marmol emphasized that when St. Louis has been at its best, one key hit has sparked the offense and allowed the rest of the lineup to keep it going.
That had been missing lately as the Cardinals dropped 10 of their previous 16 games, but Nelson Velázquez changed that with a home run Tuesday. A Statcast-projected 444-foot homer to center field, to be exact.
Entering the top of the fourth inning, the Cardinals had managed just one hit -- a two-out single by Velázquez in the first. In his next at-bat, he worked a full count before launching an 85.8 mph cutter from Martín Pérez that was down and away for his longest home run of the season. It was also the third-longest homer hit at Truist Park this season.
Masyn Winn and Lars Nootbaar followed with back-to-back singles before Nathan Church came to the plate with two outs in the inning. He homered on a 2-2, 81.9 mph changeup from Pérez, sending it a Statcast-projected 391 feet to right field to give the Cardinals a 4-1 lead.
In the top of the sixth, Winn drew a leadoff walk before stealing second and advancing to third on a wild pitch from James Karinchak, who replaced Pérez to begin the inning. Winn later tagged and scored from third on Blaze Jordan's sacrifice fly, adding an insurance run.