Braves' struggles continue as Cardinals power past Atlanta 5-3

Nathan Church hit a three-run homer, Nelson Velázquez added a solo shot and Matthew Liberatore threw five strong innings as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves 5-3 on Tuesday night.

Velázquez started a four-run fourth inning with his third homer of the year — a 444-foot shot to center field that tied the game at 1. Church followed later in the inning with his sixth homer of the season, a three-run shot, to increase the lead to 4-1.

Liberatore (4-5) struck out nine and allowed one run on one hit. Coming into the game, Liberatore had a 10.34 ERA in the month of June. Riley O'Brien pitched a scoreless ninth inning and earned his 21st save of the season.

Jordan capped the scoring for St. Louis with a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Masyn Winn in the top of the sixth.

Martín Pérez (6-5) allowed four runs and five hits in five innings for Atlanta.

Ozzie Albies, who leads the Braves in RBIs this month with 17, drove in two runs. He had a sacrifice fly in the third and an RBI single in the seventh. Despite loading the bases in the eighth, Mauricio Dubón was the only Braves player to score, doing so on a wild pitch.

Drake Baldwin snapped an 0-for-36 slump with a single in the seventh. Atlanta went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position and left 10 on base against the Cardinals.

The Braves (49-34) have lost 13 of their last 17 and have a 2 1/2 game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies in the division.

Atlanta RHP Reynaldo López (3-1, 3.47 ERA) faces St. Louis RHP Michael McGreevy (3-6, 3.12 ERA) in the second game of the series on Wednesday.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb