Cardinals look to overcome road woes in opener vs. Braves

Fresh from a three-game series sweep of the Minnesota Twins, the Atlanta Braves will try to keep their momentum going on Monday night when they open a three-game home set against the St. Louis Cardinals.

It will be the first meeting between the teams this season; St. Louis won four of the six games against Atlanta last season.

The Cardinals, however, have struggled on the road this season, going 1-9 They have lost five of their last six games overall and are coming off a four-game sweep by the New York Mets.

“(The Mets) took good at-bats and they came up with big hits,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said. “It (stinks) because it’s four in a row. … I mean, we need to do better. That’s about it.”

The pitching matchup on Monday will feature a pair of right-handers — Atlanta’s Spencer Schwellenbach (1-1, 2.55 ERA) against Erick Fedde (1-2, 3.43).

Schwellenbach, 24, is coming off his worst start of the season. He allowed six runs on six hits, including two homers, two walks and three strikeouts of 4 2/3 innings in a 6-3 loss at Toronto on Tuesday. It was the first in four starts that he had failed to pitch at least six innings and the first he had allowed more than one run.

“He’s going to have hiccups every now and then,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “He’s got that ability we’ve seen already in a young career to step up when you need him. You’d better have a deep rotation if you’re going to do anything and, you know, he adds to that.”

Schwellenbach went 0-2 with a 6.55 ERA in two starts against the Cardinals in 2024.

“I feel pretty good just kind of building on the end of last year and spring training and just coming in and trying to throw as many innings as I can and get as many outs as I can,” he said. “Just take each game as it is and build off the good things and learn from the bad.”

Fedde will make his fifth start of the season and has allowed one run or less in three appearances. In his last outing on Tuesday against Houston, he took the loss after working six innings and allowing one run on six hits, three walks and striking out a season-high five. On April 9, Fedde allowed no hits over six innings against Pittsburgh but was removed because of four walks and a high pitch count. St. Louis lost 2-1 in 13 innings.

Fedde has made 10 appearances (nine starts) against the Braves but has never beaten them, going 0-6 with an 11.03 ERA.

The hottest St. Louis hitter has been shortstop Thomas Saggese, who has gone 6-for-17 with four doubles and three RBIs in his last four games.

Atlanta’s Matt Olson has a five-game hitting streak. He is batting .233 with three homers and 13 RBIs for the season.

Marcel Ozuna, who played for St. Louis in 2018-19, is batting .305 with four homers and nine RBIs.

–Field Level Media