Atlanta Braves 9, St. Louis Cardinals 7

For 2 first place teams that could be postseason rivals, this was an ugly game. It was an enjoyable game to watch though; a seesaw affair. The Braves ended up on top after a 3 run 7th inning, aided mostly by Larry Walker misplaying a flyball in the sun. Neither starting pitcher could get an out in the 6th inning, and I don't think either one should have started that inning. The game was advertised as a pitchers' duel, but of course when that happens most of the time a slugfest happens.

The Cardinals got on the board first, on a first inning 2 run homer from Albert Pujols. The Braves countered with 3 runs in the 2nd, including solo homers from Chipper and Andruw (his 19th). Chipper homered again in the 3rd inning (his 18th) to make it 4-2. But Jason Marquis helped himself with an RBI single in the 4th to make it 4-3. In the bottom of the 4th, Rafael Furcal hit a 2 run home run (his 12th) to extend the Braves lead to 6-3. However, the Cardinals cut the lead to 6-5 in the top of the 5th, including another homer from Pujols. They tied the game in the 6th when Ortiz allowed the first 2 men to reach base, then when Tom Martin came on to try and get him out of the jam he gave up an RBI single to Walker. The Cardinals took the lead in the top of the 7th when Furcal failed to catch the ball at 2nd base on a potential double play, and a runner came around to score when the ball went into shallow center. However, the Braves scored 3 times in the bottom of the 7th inning on a Julio Franco pinch-hit 2 run double and a Charles Thomas RBI single. Chris Reitsma and John Smoltz shut down the Cardinals from there, and Smoltz picked up his 29th save.

The hitting stars for the Braves were Chipper Jones, who was 2 for 5 and hit 2 home runs and had 2 RBI; Rafael Furcal went 4 for 5 with a 2 run homer and had 3 RBI; Andruw Jones who hit a homer; Eddie Perez who went 2 for 2 and scored a run; and Nick Green who went 2 for 5 and scored a run.

Russ Ortiz pitched 5 innings and allowed 8 hits, walked 4, struck out 5, and allowed 6 runs; all earned. Tom Martin pitched a third of an inning and allowed an inherited run to score, but Kevin Gryboski struck out Pujols and Rolen to get out of the 6th. Antonio Alfonseca (6-4) gave up an unearned run in the 7th but picked up the win after the Braves scored 3 in the bottom of the inning. Reitsma pitched two thirds of an inning and didn't allow a run, and Smoltz pitched a scoreless inning and a third while picking up the save.