Dustin May (5-6, 4.30 ERA) gets the ball for St. Louis in the series finale at Truist Park, first pitch at 7:15 PM ET. His last outing was rough — 2 innings, 6 earned runs, 6 hits, 2 home runs against Kansas City on June 21 — and the Cardinals were cautious enough to skip his next scheduled start with reported back tightness. Atlanta counters with Hurston Waldrep (0-0, 0.00 ERA), though that ERA is a complete mirage: his only 2026 MLB appearance came in relief on June 26, throwing 3.2 innings with 4 walks and 55 pitches in his return from February elbow surgery.
This is a winner-takes-the-series spot. St. Louis took Game 1 on June 30 (5-3) and dropped Game 2 on July 1 (5-1), with neither result particularly close. The Cardinals at 44-39 are right in the NL wild card conversation. The Braves at 50-34 are one of the better records in the National League, but they've lost 3 of their last 5 — including getting outscored by the Giants in San Francisco — before bouncing back in Game 2 of this set.
Atlanta's injury situation is quietly doing significant damage. Ronald Acuña Jr. is on the 10-day IL with his second hamstring strain of the season, and manager Walt Weiss has called him a long shot to return before the All-Star break. Spencer Strider and Spencer Schwellenbach are both on the 60-day IL with elbow issues. Sean Murphy is out with a fractured finger. Jurickson Profar won't appear at all — his 162-game PED suspension appeal was denied, and he's done for the year. The Braves are still winning at a .595 clip, which is a credit to the roster, but this lineup has real holes.
- Day-To-DaySkylar Hales RP — Hales was traded from the Rangers to the Cardinals on Thursday along with Mason Molina and international bonus pool money in exchange for Phil Maton, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports.
- Day-To-DayChase Davis CF — Davis swatted a pair of home runs Monday in Grapefruit League action versus the Orioles.
- Day-To-DayZack Thompson RP — Thompson (shoulder) has been shut down due to an intercostal strain, Amber Winkler of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
- Day-To-DaySem Robberse SP — Robberse (elbow) has been sent to the Cardinals' Florida Complex League affiliate to begin a rehab assignment.
- Day-To-DayPacky Naughton RP — Naughton will undergo surgery next month to repair the damaged UCL in his left elbow, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
- Day-To-DayIxan Henderson SP — Henderson (elbow) is starting the season on the 60-day injured list at Triple-A Memphis.
- PaternityRyne Stanek RP — The Cardinals placed Stanek on the paternity leave list Tuesday, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
- 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.
- 10-Day-ILRonald Acuna Jr. RF — Acuna (hamstring) went through a full pregame workout at Truist Park in Atlanta on Tuesday, Chad Bishop of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
- 10-Day-ILKyle Farmer DH — Farmer (forearm) will begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Columbus on Tuesday.
- 15-Day-ILRobert Suarez RP — An MRI on Suarez's right elbow came back negative Friday, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.
- 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.
- 60-Day-ILAJ Smith-Shawver SP — Smith-Shawver (elbow) pitched three innings Tuesday during a rehab start with Single-A Augusta, allowing one run on three hits while striking out four batters, Chad Bishop of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
- 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.
- 60-Day-ILDanny Young RP — Young (elbow) walked and hit a batter but struck out three in a scoreless inning in his first rehab appearance with Double-A Columbus on Tuesday.
- 60-Day-ILSpencer Strider SP — Atlanta transferred Strider (elbow) to the 60-day injured list Wednesday.
Waldrep's workload Thursday will almost certainly be capped hard. Walt Weiss said after his June 26 debut that the organization doesn't want to decondition him as a starter, but handing him a 6-inning rubber-game assignment after 1 relief outing since elbow surgery isn't realistic. That means Atlanta's bullpen — already without Robert Suarez (elbow, 15-day IL) — gets a heavy workload. St. Louis has its own depth issues: Ryne Stanek is on paternity leave, Zack Thompson is shut down with an intercostal strain, and both clubs are leaning on thin bullpens to close out a game where the starters were never going to be the story.