Matthew Liberatore carries bullpen effort as Cardinals secure series in 4-1 win over Braves

As he reached his highest pitch count since he threw 92 pitches in a start on Aug. 3 last season, Liberatore flashed as high as 96 mph on his sinker in his final inning. The reliever bookended his start by striking out the Braves side in order in the sixth. His final pitch of the night led to a swing-and-miss on a curveball in at-bat against Albies.

Bullpen holds lead, Helsley earns save

Following behind 27th man Chris Roycroft after he pitched a scoreless seventh inning, righty Andrew Kittredge and lefty JoJo Romero combined to for the eighth inning. Though, it came with some trouble.

Kittredge retired the first two batters he faced, but allowed to runners to reach the corners when Ramon Laureano singled and Sean Murphy, who pinch hit for Luke Williams, doubled.

Romero was called from the bullpen for the lefty-on-lefty matchup against Kelenic. The Cardinals left-hander allowed a single to the Braves left-handed hitter that cut the Cardinals led in half and put runners on the corners once again.

With the switch-hitting Albies batting from the right side, Romero induced a groundout to third base that was fielded cleanly by Nolan Arenado. Arenado's throw pulled first baseman Paul Goldschmidt off the bag, but Goldschmidt was able to haul in the throw and tag Albies for the inning-ending out.

Ryan Helsley worked around a walk and a single to earn his 28th save of the year. The hard-throwing righty walked Matt Olson and allowed a single to Riley, but secured the win with a strikeout vs. Adam Duvall.

Two-out offense

After being held to four hits and two runs in Game 1, the Cardinals received all three runs in Game 2 with two outs.

Burleson's double in the second inning gave the Cardinals their first runs of the nightcap and accounted for his 35th and 36th RBIs of the year.

Goldschmidt provided insurance with a one-run single in the eighth. Donovan's single after Goldschmidt stole second base that inning provided some extra comfort for Helsley.

Siani lays out again

Patrolling center field for the series finale, it didn’t take long for Siani to add another play to his defensive highlight reel. He did so with two outs in the first.

On a sinking line drive off the bat off Braves designated hitter and former Cardinal Marcell Ozuna, Siani charged towards right-center field and extended to make a successful diving catch to end the inning.

Siani came into Wednesday’s series finale tied for second across Major League Baseball in outs above average with plus-11, per Statcast. The 24-year-old had a plus-nine fielding run value through his first 50 games.