Cardinals 4 - 5 Braves
Final
  for this game

Braves edge Cardinals to snap 8-game skid

May 30, 2012 - 3:05 AM

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Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Randall Delgado and the Braves ended their respective losing streaks Tuesday, as home runs from Michael Bourn and Dan Uggla helped Atlanta earn a 5-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Delgado (3-5), mired in a personal seven-start slump coming in, pitched into the sixth inning and gave up three runs on six hits and three walks. Four relievers combined for the final 3 2/3 frames, with Craig Kimbrel nailing down the save behind a perfect ninth.

The bullpen effort, as well as Bourn's solo homer and Uggla's three-run shot, put an end to the Braves' eight-game skid -- their longest since April 2010.

Yadier Molina went 4-for-4 with a home run and three RBI to carry the Cardinals, whose starter, Jake Westbrook (4-4) was charged with five runs -- four earned -- on five hits and three walks over five innings.

"I thought he pitched all right," Molina said of his batterymate. "We made two or three mistakes up."

St. Louis won the opener of this three-game series, 8-2 on Monday, extending the Braves' streak of scoring four runs or less to 10 straight contests.

Bourn sparked the anemic offense on Tuesday with his fourth career leadoff blast. The 5-foot-11 speedster has already matched his career-high for home runs with five.

Uggla made it 4-0 in the third with a no-doubter to left-center, scoring Bourn and Martin Prado in the process.

The Cardinals halved their deficit in the fourth on Molina's RBI single and Tyler Greene's run-scoring groundout.

With runners on the corners in the fifth, Molina let a Westbrook wild pitch get past him, allowing Jose Constanza to come in for a 5-2 game. Molina got the run back in the next half-inning with his eighth home run of the season.

Chad Durbin stranded a pair in the away sixth before Jonny Venters yielded another RBI single to Molina in the seventh. Venters wound up leaving runners on first and third by striking out Matt Adams.

Eric O'Flaherty hurled a 1-2-3 eighth, and Kimbrel secured his 14th save by getting Matt Holliday to swing through a payoff pitch for the final out.

"To finally end that little [losing] streak is huge," Uggla said. "Now we can...move on to [Wednesday] and try to win the series."

Game Notes

The Braves were out-hit, 10-5...Bourn also recorded five home runs in 2008 with the Astros...Delgado was 0-5 in his previous seven starts...Before the game, the Braves optioned pitcher Kris Medlen to Triple-A Gwinnett and recalled outfielder Constanza, who went 1-for-3 out of the ninth position in the batting order. Delgado batted eighth...St. Louis has lost Westbrook's last four starts...Molina has three four-hit games this season.






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