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Yesterday I hit the wall again with baseball, as I mistakenly thought Paul Skenes and Zack Wheeler would get into a pitching duel. Skenes allowed five runs in the second inning. Wheeler was better, but it wasn’t much better as he allowed four earned runs. Two best pitchers in the league combined to allow 11 runs. We still have a pretty solid roster today, so let’s find a winner in the Cardinals vs. Braves game.
The St. Louis Cardinals are having a good year. I’ve covered the midseason in a few articles recently, and the Cardinals are above .500 for that checkpoint. The bad news for them is that they are still 8.5 games behind the Brewers in the division, and the Cubs are ahead of them. Additionally, only the Reds are more than one game under .500 in the division. It will likely be very complex trying to make the playoffs for all of these NL powerhouse teams. However, it is too early to think about it; they just need to get every victory possible.
St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Dustin May reacts after throwing a complete game one-hitter against the San Diego Padres at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri on June 15, 2026. (Jeff Curry/Imagn Images)
Looking to position them for a win in today’s game and the series is Dustin May. In May’s first season with the Cardinals, he went 5-6 for the season with a 4.30 ERA and 1.20 WHIP. The bad news for him and the Cardinals is that a road game is the worst situation for May this season. He has a 6.81 day game ERA, compared to a 2.05 night game ERA. On the road, he has a 4.79 ERA compared to a 3.94 home ERA. His last game was against the Royals, and it was a road game where he allowed six earned runs in two innings of work. In 70 at-bats against May, the Braves have just 14 hits. Half of those hits came from Mike Yastrzemski, so the rest of the team is 7 for 56 against him.
Mike Yastrzemski of the Atlanta Braves reacts during a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia on June 6, 2026. (Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
The Atlanta Braves started the season as basically the best team in baseball. They remain in control of their division, but the Phillies are on their heels since they fired their manager. I guess even before the season we could have predicted that the Braves and Phillies would be the two best teams in the division. Maybe some would have included the Mets, but for me, those were my two choices. The Braves are 50-34 and really don’t need to make a move at the deadline. They could probably just benefit from being at full health with the team.
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I think part of the reason they started today’s starter, Hurston Waldrep, is due to some injuries on the team. Spencer Strider is on the injured list and the Braves are still looking for a replacement for his production. Waldrep is making just his second appearance with the Braves this season. He played only two innings in relief Friday against the Giants. He allowed two hits, four walks and three strikeouts, so he was kind of all over the place. Maybe it was nervous, but he has to control his walks. He had a good season in 2025, starting nine games, with a 2.88 ERA and 1.19 WHIP.
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Matt Olson of the Atlanta Braves hits a two-run home run in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets on Tuesday, July 12, 2022, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
The Cardinals are not a team prone to strikeouts; they rank fifth in fewest strikeouts per game with just 7.73. Waldrep averages one strikeout per inning during his career. Should be interesting to see if he can match that here. I don’t necessarily expect him to have a good game or go too deep in the game, but at +101, four strikeouts are worth a look.
I think the best bet here, though, is to lead the Braves through five innings. I like May, but he has shown several times this year that he throws poorly during the day. Athletes get into routines, and May may need a full afternoon to get into hers so she can throw better at night. I don’t like Waldrep, but I think he can give a few solid innings and the bullpen can handle the rest. Give me the Braves until five.
