Series Recap: Braves at Cardinals

While seeing Jason Heyward again was great, the series for the Braves in St. Louis wasn't so great. The Braves lost two of three to the Cardinals on the first leg of a 10-game road trip that heads to Baltimore next and then to Philadelphia.

Atlanta fell to Cardinals rookie Tim Cooney in the opener on Friday 4-2. The Cardinals scored all four runs before the Braves managed to push two across in the sixth. Randal Grichuk hit a two-run homer for the Cardinals in the second inning. Manny Banuelos took the loss for the Braves.

Saturday's game was the gem of the series between Shelby Miller and Carlos Martinez. Miller returned to his old stomping grounds and matched zeros with Martinez for seven innings, but a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning was all the Cardinals needed to defeat the Braves. The loss gave Miller his 12th straight winless start.

The Braves avoided a sweep on Sunday thanks to Matt Wisler and Adonis Garcia. Wisler held the Cardinals to two runs in seven innings, while Adonis Garcia broke a 2-2 tie in the sixth with his first major-league homer one day after getting his first major-league hit.

Jason Heyward was mostly a non-factor in his first series against the Braves. He was 2-11 in the series with a double and a stolen base. He scored one run in the series; it came Sunday on a play at the plate: he tried to score on a single to left and was initially called out, but a challenge reversed the call.

Freddie Freeman came off the DL and pinch-hit during Saturday's contest. He started Sunday and was 1-3 with a walk.