Gibson
By Associated Press
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Greenfield’s Kyle Gibson suffered the loss in the St. Louis Cardinals doubleheader opener at home Wednesday against the Atlanta Braves.
Jarred Kelenic had three hits, including his eighth home run, and three RBI to lead the Braves over the Cardinals 6-2, Atlanta’s ninth win in 12 games.
Kelenic hit a two-run homer in the sixth and is batting .326 (14 for 43) with four homers and nine RBI since being moved to the leadoff spot in the batting order.
“I’m sticking to my plan, trying to hunt pitches over the inside of the plate so I can get extended on it, and stay inside it,” Kelenic said. “That’s the biggest thing. I think I’m getting a few more pitches over the heart of the plate, and I’m not missing them.”
Kelenic moved up in the order after Ronald Acuña Jr. got hurt.
“He’s swinging with a lot of confidence right now,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
Reynaldo López (6-2) improved to 4-0 in his last five starts, allowing two runs and four hits in five innings. Dylan Lee, Pierce Johnson, Joe Jiménez and Raisel Iglesias each pitched one inning of hitless relief.
López’s 1.70 ERA in his first 14 starts of the season is the lowest for a Braves pitcher since Tom Glavine’s 1.64 in 2002.
“He had to really work,” Snitker said. “He’s had to withstand two rain delays.”
Atlanta (44-33) matched its season high of 11 games over .500.
St. Louis had won its previous four games, moving three games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2022 season.
Gibson (5-3) allowed four runs and four hits in four innings with five walks, his most since April 30, 2022, for Philadelphia.
“Just out of sync throughout that inning,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of a rough second inning. “It’s not like him at all to walk five.”
Gibson had been scratched from his most recent scheduled start due to back and hip stiffness, and hadn’t pitched since June 14.
“I threw my normal bullpen … this week and everything felt really good,” Gibson said. “So today, did everything as normal, and just unfortunately was a little out of sync at times.”
Gibson’s next scheduled start is Tuesday, July 2 at the Pittsburgh Pirates. Mitch Keller is slated to be the Pirates starter for the 6:40 p.m. game.
