Martín Pérez fires three scoreless frames Thursday

The 23-year-old slugger smacked an RBI single in the third inning that gave the Cardinals a 3-2 lead that they would never surrender. He then delivered an RBI double in the fifth inning and scored on an RBI double off the bat of Leo Bernal. He also doubled in the seventh inning and was once again driven in by Bernal. With his three-hit attack, Báez is now slashing .261/.313/.580 to go with seven home runs, 18 RBI and two stolen bases in his first 96 plate appearances.

Bernal led off the second inning with a double and scored on a fielder’s choice to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead. He then walloped an RBI double in the fifth inning that extended that lead to 6-2. He also tacked on an RBI single in the seventh to cap off the Cardinals’ scoring. The 22-year-old has impressed in his limited action thus far, slashing .325/.386/.525 with a pair of homers and 12 RBI in his first 44 plate appearances at the game’s highest level.

The left-hander also issued three free passes in the ballgame while striking out two. All of the damage done against him came on a pair of solo blasts off the bat of Chase Meidroth — one to lead off the game and another to open the third inning. Liberatore got seven swings and misses on 72 offerings on the night, registering a CSW of 24 percent. He’ll look to get back in the win column as he carries a 5.53 ERA, 1.49 WHIP and a 146/52 K/BB ratio (143 1/3 innings) into Wednesday’s matchup against the Giants.

Meidroth got the game started with a bang, crushing Matthew Liberatore’s very first pitch for a 398-foot (103.7-mph EV) leadoff home run. He then led off the third inning with a 391-foot (103.9-mph EV) solo shot that tied the game at 2-2. The 25-year-old infielder is having a solid season at the dish, slashing .269/.345/.402 with 14 homers, 53 RBI and three stolen bases in 591 plate appearances.

Kay walked one and struck out two batters in the ballgame. The Cardinals scratched out a run against him in each of his first three innings of work. The 31-year-old southpaw got just one swing and miss on 67 pitches in the contest, posting an uninspiring CSW of 21 percent. He’ll try to bounce back as he carries a 4.53 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and a 118/51 K/BB ratio (145 innings) into Wednesday’s critical divisional matchup against the Guardians in Cleveland.

With the Guardians needing a big hit, Rocchio stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and this game tied in the ninth inning. A lot of the pressure melted away after Yoendrys Gómez threw a wild pitch that let Travis Bazzana scamper home with the go-ahead run. Just a moment later, Rocchio scorched a double in the gap to bring home two more and give Cleveland all the insurance they’d need to finish this game off. Despite a few other big hits over the last few weeks, Rocchio has ceded some starts at shortstop to Angel Genao over the last few weeks as his production has tailed off during the second half.

Atlanta’s lead is back up to five games in the NL East. The Braves scored once in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game. Both teams then scored single runs in the 10th before the Braves bested the Phillies 2-1 in the 11th, with Ha-Seong Kim delivering a line-drive single to tie the game prior to Baldwin’s walkoff. The Braves won the game without the DH, as Baldwin moved from there to catcher after Sean Murphy was lifted for a pinch-runner.

He struck out six. All of the runs came with two outs in the third on a single, a walk, a HBP and a bases-loaded double. Sale allowed just one other hit and walk over the remaining six innings, but the one bad frame meant he left down 3-2 before the Braves came back. Sale is lined up to face the Astros and Reds in his final two starts.

Iglesias gave up the run in a tie game and the Braves rallied to score a run in the bottom of the 10th, so there was no blown save or loss for Atlanta’s closer. This is his second straight day pitching, so he’ll probably be down on Saturday. Dylan Lee might get a save chance then.

Nola gave up a homer to Matt Olson in the first and another to Austin Riley in the second, but the Braves did nothing else against him, even though he finished the night with just two strikeouts and three walks. It’s the sixth straight start in which Nola has allowed two runs or fewer, and though he wasn’t involved in the decision tonight, he’s improved from 3-9 with a 5.61 ERA to 7-9 with a 4.69 ERA. He’ll get the Mets next week.