ATLANTA — Ozzie Albies homered and drove in two runs to fuel the offensive attack, and the pitchers took it from there as the Atlanta Braves held the St. Louis Cardinals to two hits in a 5-1 victory Wednesday night at Truist Park.
The win was just the fifth in the past 18 games for the Braves, who nevertheless have managed to hold on to first place in the National League East Division standings. Atlanta improved to 50-34 this season and remained 2 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Philadelphia Phillies (49-38), who have won seven of their past nine games.
Reynaldo López (4-1) pitched five strong innings in his second start since returning to the rotation after losing his spot in April. López gave up one run on two hits with a walk and five strikeouts. The right-hander threw 68 pitches, with 44 of those for strikes.
Atlanta’s bullpen, which entered with an MLB-best 2.76 ERA this season, tossed four perfect innings to secure the win. Dylan Dodd, Didier Fuentes and Dylan Lee set up closer Raisel Iglesias, who earned his 17th save of 2026.
Atlanta pitchers retired 20 batters in a row to end the game as the Braves bounced back from a 5-3 loss in Tuesday’s opener to the three-game series with the Cardinals (44-39), who are third in the NL Central and 8 1/2 games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers.