Cardinals face the Braves leading series 1-0

Updated: Jul 11, 2026, 01:33 pm

Atlanta Braves (54-39, first in the NL East) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (49-44, third in the NL Central)

St. Louis; Saturday, 7:15 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Braves: Reynaldo Lopez (4-1, 3.18 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 51 strikeouts); Cardinals: Matthew Liberatore (4-6, 5.34 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 82 strikeouts)

LINE: Braves -166, Cardinals +137; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The St. Louis Cardinals play the Atlanta Braves with a 1-0 series lead.

St. Louis is 49-44 overall and 25-25 in home games. Cardinals pitchers have a collective 4.16 ERA, which ranks fifth in the NL.

Atlanta has a 54-39 record overall and a 27-21 record in road games. Braves pitchers have a collective 3.61 ERA, which ranks third in the NL.

The teams play Saturday for the fifth time this season. The Cardinals are ahead 3-1 in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jordan Walker leads the Cardinals with 22 home runs while slugging .536. JJ Wetherholt is 11 for 37 with two doubles, a home run and two RBI over the last 10 games.

Matt Olson leads the Braves with 25 home runs while slugging .541. Michael Harris II is 16 for 47 with two home runs and 10 RBI over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 5-5, .240 batting average, 3.64 ERA, outscored opponents by 14 runs

Braves: 5-5, .248 batting average, 5.06 ERA, outscored opponents by eight runs

INJURIES: Cardinals: Max Rajcic: 60-Day IL (elbow), Ryne Stanek: day-to-day (leg), Ramon Urias: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Braves: Martin Perez: 15-Day IL (forearm), Ha-Seong Kim: 10-Day IL (finger), Spencer Strider: 60-Day IL (elbow), Robert Suarez: 15-Day IL (elbow), Ronald Acuna Jr.: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Sean Murphy: 60-Day IL (finger), Spencer Schwellenbach: 60-Day IL (elbow), AJ Smith-Shawver: 60-Day IL (elbow), Joe Jimenez: 60-Day IL (knee), Joey Wentz: 60-Day IL (knee)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.