ATLANTA — After watching the Braves hit four home runs and still not be able to get a win a night earlier, the Cardinals made certain that didn’t happen to them on Sunday.
The Cardinals hit four home runs, all solo shots, and that was enough to carry them to the win over the Braves in Atlanta.
Alec Burleson stayed hot with one of the homers, with the other blasts coming from Paul Goldschmidt, Lars Nootbaar and Willson Contreras.
It was the third time in their last six games at Truist Park that the Cardinals have hit four home runs and the fifth time in their 23 games in that stadium since it opened in 2017.
The beneficiary of the home run barrage was Miles Mikolas, who allowed two runs, one on a home run, over six innings.
Here is how Sunday’s game broke down:
At the plate: Burleson’s homer was his 18th of the year, tying Nolan Gorman for the team lead. He also singled in a run and finished the three-game series in Atlanta 6-of-14 with six RBIs. He has driven in at least one run in his last six games … Goldschmit was dropped to seventh in the batting order for the first time since 2012 and promptly homered in his first at-bat, but then struck out twice and grounded into a double play … The home runs by Goldschmit, Burleson and Nootbaar all came with two outs … Contreras’ homer in the eighth came after he struck out in his first three at-bats.
On the mound: Mikolas scattered seven hits over six innings, benefitting from three double plays … Ryan Fernandez worked a 1-2-3 seventh and Andrew Kittredge pitched around a two-out double in the eighth before Ryan Helsley pitched the ninth even though it was not a save situation. Helsley allowed a two-out walk and single before closing out the win in only his second appearance since July 5.
Key stat: The Cardinals have won the last 26 games when they hit four or more home runs since 2020. Since 2018, they have gone 41-1 when they hit four or more home runs.
Worth noting: The Cardinals won the season series against the Braves, four games to two, which would be used to break a tie in the wild-card standings … Since June 1, Burleson has driven in 41 runs, the most in the National League, and his 13 home runs since that date are second in the league behind Shohei Ohtani’s 15 for the Dodgers.
Looking ahead: The Cardinals road trip continues on Monday night with the first of three games against the Pirates in Pittsburgh. Andre Pallante is the scheduled starter.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains