Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt both homered and Adam Wainwright threw a seven-inning complete game to lead the visiting St. Louis Cardinals to a 9-1 win over the Atlanta Braves in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader.
Arenado ended an 0-for-20 slump with a two-run homer in the first inning, his 13th of the season. Arenado was 2-for-3 with a walk and three RBI. It was his first home run since June 12.
Goldschmidt was 3-for-4 with four RBI and ended a 1-for-12 streak with a 401-foot three-run homer in the fifth inning against reliever Josh Tomlin. It was his 10th homer.
The Cardinals had scored only 10 runs in their previous seven games.
Wainwright (5-5) went the distance and allowed one run on three hits and three walks. He finished with a season-high 11 strikeouts. It was the 26th complete game of his career, tying him with Justin Verlander for the most by an active player.
Wainwright, a Georgia native, improved to 10-4 against the Braves, the club who selected him in the first round of the 2000 draft and traded him to St. Louis before the 2004 season.
The loser was Bryse Wilson (2-3), who pitched four innings and allowed six runs on eight hits and four strikeouts.
The Cardinals scored twice in the first inning on Arendo’s home run and added a run in the fourth on Yadier Molina’s RBI single. The hit was the 2,048th of Molina’s career, tying him with Johnny Bench for eighth place in hits by a catcher.
The Braves made it 4-1 in the fourth by executing a double-steal, with Freddie Freeman scoring when Ozzie Albies stole second base while Abraham Almonte struck out.
The Cardinals added Goldschmidt’s homer in the fifth and put three more on the board in the sixth on an RBI single by Goldschmidt, a bases-loaded walk to Arenado and Tyler O’Neill’s sacrifice fly.
Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr. went 0-for-3 and saw his streak of reaching base end at 26 games.
–Field Level Media