Atlanta Braves at St. Louis Cardinals

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
ATL	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	3	0
STL	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	—	2	5	0

First pitch is 7:15 PM CT, and the ball's in Chris Sale's hand — which at this point in his career is basically a good-news alert for Atlanta. He's coming off his 10th career All-Star selection and carries a 2.27 ERA into Busch Stadium, matched up against Kyle Leahy, who's quietly turned himself from rotation afterthought into a guy the Cardinals can lean on.

Show fees

FINAL

Spread

ML

Total

Braves(54-38)

WWLLL

1

-1.5+141-120o7.5-117

Cardinals(48-44)

LWLLL

2

+1.5-117+150u7.5+117

Best BetBraves -166

Pregame

Atlanta's price reflects a real gap right now — Sale's been the best pitcher on either roster all year, and the lineup just reminded everyone what it looks like when it's rolling with that 10-run outburst in Pittsburgh. St. Louis has the disadvantage of trotting out a converted reliever in Leahy against that kind of firepower, even with his encouraging last outing. Back the Braves here; the price is steep but the gap in current form justifies it.

Leahy's last time out was about as clean as it gets — 5 shutout innings against the Cubs with 6 strikeouts and only 3 hits allowed on 77 pitches. That's the version of Leahy St. Louis needs more of, because the Cardinals just got run off their own field by Milwaukee, dropping 4 of 5 in a brutal home series that included a 2-10 blowout loss. Atlanta, meanwhile, is banged up on the pitching side — Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach and Martin Perez are all out — but the lineup just put up 10 runs on Pittsburgh to close last week.

Chris Sale

(11-6)·2.19 ERA

Jul 4 vs Mets

W

5.0IP

3ER

3K

2BB

98P

07/10 Lineup

Kyle Leahy

(7-4)·3.59 ERA

Jul 4 @ Cubs

W

5.0IP

0ER

6K

2BB

77P

07/10 Lineup

None of that stops the market from installing Atlanta as a clear road favorite here, and the number's moved a bit as bettors have leaned into the total. Whichever side you're on, this is a Friday night series opener with real separation in the standings and two teams heading in opposite directions.

Atlanta Braves

(54-38)

Jul 9W@ Pirates10-5

Jul 8W@ Pirates3-0

Jul 7L@ Pirates4-12

Jul 6Lvs Mets6-7

Jul 5Lvs Mets9-10

St. Louis Cardinals

(48-44)

Jul 9Lvs Brewers4-8

Jul 8Wvs Brewers5-1

Jul 7Lvs Brewers2-10

Jul 7Lvs Brewers3-4

Jul 6Lvs Brewers3-4

The Braves have been streaky lately — 3 straight losses to the Mets and Pirates to open last week before ripping off back-to-back wins to close out the Pittsburgh series, the second one a 10-5 laugher. That's the version of this Atlanta lineup that shows up when it's clicking, and it's the one St. Louis has to worry about with Ronald Acuna Jr. still working back from a hamstring injury rather than in the outfield.

Atlanta Braves

(12)

• PaternityTyler Kinley (RP) — Atlanta placed Kinley on the paternity list Tuesday.07/07
• 10-Day-ILRonald Acuna Jr. (RF) — Manager Walt Weis said Tuesday that Acuna (hamstring) could begin a rehab assignment next week, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.07/07
• 10-Day-ILHa-Seong Kim (SS) — Atlanta placed Kim on the 10-day injured list Saturday, retroactive to Wednesday, due to right middle finger inflammation.07/04
• 15-Day-ILMartin Perez (SP) — Atlanta placed Perez on the 15-day injured list Monday due to a left forearm contusion.07/06
• 15-Day-ILRobert Suarez (RP) — An MRI on Suarez's right elbow came back negative Friday, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.06/27
• suspensionJurickson Profar (LF) — Profar will miss the full 2026 season after the appeal of his 162-game PED suspension was denied Thursday, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.05/08
• 60-Day-ILAJ Smith-Shawver (SP) — Smith-Shawver (elbow) struck out five and allowed two hits and no walks over four scoreless innings in a rehab start Sunday with Single-A Augusta.07/08
• 60-Day-ILSpencer Schwellenbach (SP) — Schwellenbach (elbow) will likely report to Atlanta's spring training facility in early July and could be a candidate to rejoin the major-league rotation by late August or early September, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.06/29
• 60-Day-ILSpencer Strider (SP) — Atlanta transferred Strider (elbow) to the 60-day injured list Wednesday.06/17
• 60-Day-ILSean Murphy (C) — Murphy had the cast on his left hand removed Tuesday and is now wearing a splint to protect his fractured middle finger, Grant McAuley of the Marietta Daily Journal reprots.06/04
• 60-Day-ILJoe Jimenez (RP) — Atlanta manager Walt Weiss revealed Wednesday that Jimenez underwent another surgery on his left knee 3-to-4 weeks ago, Grant McAuley of the Marietta Daily Journal reports.05/13
• 60-Day-ILJoey Wentz (RP) — Atlanta placed Wentz (knee) on the 60-day injured list Tuesday.05/08

St. Louis Cardinals

(3)

• Day-To-DayRyne Stanek (RP) — Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Wednesday he hopes to avoid using Stanek (ankle) "for maybe two or three days," Amber Winkler of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.07/09
• 60-Day-ILMax Rajcic (RP) — The Cardinals transferred Rajcic (elbow) to the 60-day injured list Tuesday.07/07
• 60-Day-ILRamon Urias (3B) — Urias (elbow) returned to St. Louis to undergo an examination on his left elbow, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.06/12

St. Louis has its own issue brewing in the bullpen — Ryne Stanek is day-to-day with an ankle problem, and Marmol has already said he wants to keep him out another couple days if he can help it. That's not nothing against a Braves offense that just dropped double digits on a divisional opponent. If Leahy can't work deep and the pen gets exposed early, this one could get away from St. Louis in a hurry.

Sale's chasing something bigger than just a win here, too — a strong outing keeps him on pace for the best ERA by a Braves pitcher 37 or older through his first 17 starts of a season, ahead of even John Smoltz's 2005 mark. For a Cardinals team trying to shake off a five-game funk, that's not exactly the pitcher you want standing across the diamond.