Cardinals 5, Braves 3 (11)
Nick Punto’s two-out triple down the right-field line in the 11th inning gave the visiting St. Louis Cardinals a 5-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Friday.
Punto’s rocket scored Ryan Theriot and Mark Hamilton, who reached on a hit-by-pitch and a walk, as the Cardinals (15-11) won for the seventh time in nine games. It was Punto's only hit in six at-bats.
The Braves (13-14) fell below .500 as they dealt with two incidents. The team put pitching coach Roger McDowell on administrative leave Friday while investigating allegations he made homophobic slurs toward fans and pitcher Derek Lowe had to apologize for his DUI arrest late Thursday night.
Nate McLouth led off the seventh with a solo homer off Chris Carpenter to break a 2-2 tie, but St. Louis tied it in the ninth on Daniel Descalso’s sacrifice fly.
The Cardinals got four scoreless relief innings from Mitchell Boggs, Eduardo Sanchez, Jason Motte and Trever Miller.
Braves right fielder Jason Heyward lined a solo homer in the first for his seventh of the season.