Duvall, Soler home runs power Braves past Cardinals 7-4

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Adam Duvall and Jorge Soler homered, and Stephen Vogt drove in the eventual game-winning run with a sacrifice fly as the Atlanta Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-4 on Wednesday night.

Dansby Swanson went 4 for 4 with three runs scored for the Braves, who moved to .500 at 54-54.

“That was a really good win for us,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “All the guys we acquired were instrumental to making that happen. A lot of really good things happened tonight.”

Will Smith, the sixth Braves pitcher, picked up his 22nd save with a 1-2-3 ninth.

The win helped Atlanta post its first two-game winning streak since the All-Star break. The Braves have won eight of their last nine games at Busch Stadium.

Giovanny Gallegos (5-4) allowed three runs in the eighth inning as the Cardinals lost for the sixth time in 10 games. St. Louis dropped a game below .500 at 53-54.

“Look, we've got a guy we love to death and has done a tremendous for us for several years,” St. Louis manager Mike Shildt said about Gallegos. “They put together some tough at-bats. They scratched and clawed.”

With the bases loaded and one out in the eighth inning, Vogt hit a fly to deep center, easily scoring Austin Riley. Pinch-hitter Joc Pederson, acquired in a recent trade with the Cubs, hit a line-drive double to right, plating two insurance runs.

“I was just trying to get a pitch I could drive,” Pederson said. “He's kind of had my number in the past. I wanted to get the barrel of the bat on the ball. We’re all getting on the same page so we can put together a streak.”

The Cardinals tied the game 4-4 in the seventh on a sacrifice fly to right field by Paul Goldschmidt. Chris Martin (1-3) failed to check on two runners, who pulled off a...