Cardinals activate Ryan Fernandez (back) off IL

Walker opened the scoring in the contest with a 396-foot (104.4-mph EV) three-run blast off of Hurston Waldrep in the top half of the first. That would be it for the Cardinals’ offense until a seven-run rally in the seventh where Walker contributed an RBI single and scored on a fielder’s choice. He has had an extremely impressive first half of the season, slashing .291/.346/.519 with 19 homers, 63 RBI and 11 stolen bases.

Church did his damage as part of a seven-run seventh inning, with his 392-foot (97.5-mph EV) two-run shot off of Tyler Kinley pulling the Cardinals even at five runs apiece. That would be his only hit on the night, but it played a critical role in the comeback victory. For the season, the 25-year-old outfielder is hitting .254/.295/.410 with seven homers, 25 RBI and five stolen bases.

Burleson reached on a fielder’s choice and scored on a double by Lars Nootbaar during the Cardinals’ seven-run uprising in the seventh inning. He then put the cherry on top of the comeback victory with a 395-foot (107.4-mph EV) solo blast off of James Karinchak to lead off the ninth inning. With his 1-for-5 night, the 27-year-old is now slashing .274/.341/.474 with 14 long balls and 58 RBI on the season.

Smith strolled to the dish with the bases juiced and a run already in and lined a ball off of the ankle of Cardinals’ starter Dustin May and into right field, turning into a three-run double that gave the Braves a 5-3 advantage. That would be all of their offense in the ballgame though and Smith’s only hit in four at-bats. His bat has cooled a bit following his hot start to the season, though he’s still hitting a respectable .278/.320/.417 with six homers and 35 RBI in 207 plate appearances.

Waldrep punched out four opposing hitters in the contest while issuing one free pass. All of the damage against him came on a three-run blast by Jordan Walker in the opening inning. Waldrep settled in beautifully afterwards though, keeping the Cardinals off the board into the sixth. He exited with a 5-3 lead and in line for a victory, but the Braves’ bullpen couldn’t oblige. He generated nine whiffs on 76 pitches, posting a solid CSW of 32 percent. That should be good enough to earn him another start against the Pirates in Pittsburgh next week.

Mullins singled off of Randy Dobnak in the third inning but the Rays couldn’t bring him home. He then got to him for a 385-foot (96.9-mph EV) two-out, two-run blast in the fifth inning that extended the Rays’ lead to 5-1. The 31-year-old outfielder has now homered in three straight games — and four of his last five. For the season, he’s slashing .217/.294/.361 with 10 homers, 29 RBI and 13 stolen bases (in 19 attempts).

Simpson reached on an infield single in the second inning and scored the Rays’ first run on an RBI double off the bat of Taylor Walls. He also singled in the second but wound up stranded at third base. The 25-year-old speedster then reached on a bunt single with two outs in the fifth, swiped second base and rode home on a two-run blast by Cedric Mullins. He’s now slashing .278/.317/.331 with zero homers, 16 RBI and 20 stolen bases on the year.

Baker made it look quite easy in this one, needing just eight pitches (six strikes) to retire Josh Rojas on strikes, Nick Loftin on a fly ball to center and Michael Massey on a ground ball to second base. He has been one of the biggest surprises in baseball this season, posting a stellar 1.89 ERA, 0.84 WHIP and a 36/11 K/BB ratio over 33 1/3 innings while converting 22 of his first 25 save opportunities.

The 27-year-old southpaw racked up eight strikeouts on the night while allowing one base on balls. The lone tally against him came on a leadoff home run off the bat of Carter Jensen. After that, Seymour locked in and completely dominated. He got 15 swings and misses on 83 pitches in the ballgame — seven on his sweeper — while registering a strong CSW of 34 percent. Now 5-1 on the season, he’ll bring a 4.02 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and a 60/21 K/BB ratio (56 innings) into Tuesday’s matchup against the Yankees.

Jensen wasted no time in this one, launching the fourth pitch thrown by Ian Seymour for a mammoth 449-foot (106.7-mph EV) solo shot that gave the Royals an early 1-0 edge. He also reached on an infield single to open the eighth inning but wound up stranded at second base. With his two-hit attack, the 22-year-old backstop is now slashing .251/.314/.452 with 13 homers and 47 RBI over 312 plate appearances on the season.