5 runs in 8th inning lift Braves to 4th straight victory

Atlanta was down 3-2 before the bottom of the eighth and scored five runs on three hits and two walks.

The biggest blow was a three-run home run by catcher Sean Murphy with two outs to give Atlanta a 7-3 lead.

The Braves may not have scored their five eight-inning runs had Austin Riley not beaten out a throw at first base after hitting a slow groundball to shortstop Brandon Donovan for an infield single.

Riley was originally called out, which would have been the second out of the inning, but the call was overturned after the Braves challenged the out call.

“Austin busted his hump down there,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “A guy that big, and he can run; it’s huge in the game. It’s a good one to win.”

Riley, who also hit a two-run home run in the third inning, got down the line at 29.4 miles per hour to record the infield single.

After Riley’s single, Marcell Ozuna walked, Matt Olson tied the game at three with an RBI single, Ozzie Albies walked, Michael Harris II gave the Braves a 4-3 lead with a sacrifice fly and Murphy homered to put the Braves up 7-3.

“I’m so fast, I’m so fast,” Riley said, jokingly. “I slimmed down a little bit [in the offseason]. More so for defense, but it’s working on the base paths. Obviously, it started a rally and we were able to get five [runs] there. Four [wins] in a row, a good start to this series, [we’ll just] try to get going and build momentum.”

Murphy missed the first 10 games of the season after fracturing his rib in spring training but the catcher has been a difference maker since his return.

“He told us before we activated him ‘This is not going to be like last year. It’s a different injury. I’m a different guy,’” Snitker said. “He assured us that [he was] going to be better than [he was] and he has been.”

Murphy has eight hits and five home runs in 35 at-bats in the 10 games he’s played since he was activated. His OPS is .916.

“[He’s done] a lot of damage,” Riley said. “Both of our catchers have been outstanding. That’s a really good one-two punch right there. Murphy has done unbelievable. He’s a really good ballplayer. That was huge insurance that we needed.”

Cardinals reliever Phil Maton got the nod in the top of the eighth. Maton, who hadn’t walked a batter all season before Monday, issued two walks in his outing.

“Those are good at-bats to not expand the zone right there. Big at-bats,” Snitker said.

Harris went 2-for-3 with two singles but his biggest swing of the night was his flyout to right field with the bases loaded in the eighth for his aforementioned go-ahead sacrifice fly.

“My main job right there was to get the ball in the air and to the outfield or get the guy in, in some way whether that was a hit or what I did” Harris said. “I was happy I was able to get the ball up in the air and get the run in.”

The Braves hadn’t won two games in a row this season before rattling off four wins in their last four games.

“That’s huge,” Riley said. “The biggest thing we can take from it is confidence. It’s in there. Everybody in here has been working hard. We’ll just try to build more confidence. That’s all we can do. It’s not going to happen over night.”

The Cardinals threatened in the top of the ninth and made it a one-run game with three runs on three hits off Braves closer Raisel Iglesias. Iglesias gave up a leadoff double to Pedro Pagés and Victor Scott II followed with an RBI double. That set the table for Willson Contreras whose two-run home run made the score 7-6.

After Iglesias walked Donovan to bring the potential go-ahead run to the plate in Nolan Arenado, Arenado hit a check swing dribbler in front of the plate and Murphy tagged him out to end the game.

“It’s almost like [Iglesias] was throwing his changeup too hard,” Snitker said. “He hung in there too. It’s just kind of baseball.”

Iglesias, who gave up four home runs all season (69.1 innings), has already given up four home runs in nine innings this season.

“In the beginning it started out I thought he was just a little rusty,” Snitker said. “I’ve kind of felt like the more we’ve used him would be good for him. He’s a feel guy. He’s not gonna go out and blow you away. I think he’ll get it going.”