Albies, Rosario's late-game heroics lead to walk-off win in Game 1

ATLANTA -- With just two hits over the first 6 2/3 innings of Saturday’s first matchup against the Cardinals, the Braves were in danger of being held scoreless for the third time in five games.

Eddie Rosario and Ozzie Albies had other ideas. Rosario hit a game-tying, two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning, and Albies’ walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th helped Atlanta to a 3-2 win in Game 1 of a split doubleheader at Truist Park.

Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Gibson gave Atlanta hitters fits through his first six innings of work, as he allowed just two hits and kept the Braves off the board.

With two down in the bottom of the seventh, Travis d’Arnaud singled. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol elected to pull Gibson and bring on Ryan Fernandez to face Rosario in relief. Rosario greeted Fernandez with a Statcast-projected 360-foot home run into the Chop House in right field.

“I feel blessed,” Rosario said. “I want to say thank you to Braves Country. I love it when they say my name and I just feel great.”

It was Rosario’s eighth home run of the year in his first game in Atlanta since returning to the Braves after Atlanta selected his contract on July 8. It was also Rosario’s first regular-season game at Truist Park as a member of the Braves since Oct. 1, 2023.

“He’s had a couple of big [hits],” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He’s got no pulse, that’s for sure. The situation isn’t going to bother him. He’s an aggressive guy.”

Rosario’s homer was against a 1-0 slider -- the second pitch Fernandez threw in his appearance.

“He threw me the first pitch outside, he threw me [the second pitch] in the middle, I put a good swing [on the ball],” Rosario said.

Gibson exited the game with 100 pitches, and Snitker said he wasn’t surprised Marmol went to his bullpen with two down and a runner on in the bottom of the seventh.

“I kind of figured he was out there, and if they could have gotten another inning out of him, great,” Snitker said. “If that first guy got on, I kind of expected [the Cardinals] to go get him.”

Fernandez had given up two home runs ahead of Saturday’s game and both were against left-handed hitters. Rosario was the latest lefty to victimize the rookie.

“Fernandez, if you look him up, has been one of the best in the league -- not just on our team, but in the entire league -- at coming in [with traffic on] and stranding runners,” Marmol said. “[Gibson] is at his max, Rosario does not walk [much] and for him to draw a walk against [Gibson in the fifth inning] means he’s seeing it well. So, giving [Gibson] a chance there against Rosario, you can, but our bullpen has been our strength. Going to Fernandez, we’ve done it quite a bit, and he’s done a really nice job, but it didn’t work out today.”

Gibson went 6 2/3 innings and allowed one run on three hits and two walks and struck out six.

“We were having a hard time getting a hold of him, that’s for sure,” Snitker said.

In extra innings, Pierce Johnson pitched a scoreless 10th, aided by a Matt Olson unassisted double play that ended the top half of the inning and preserved the tie.

Adam Duvall was the Braves’ placed runner in the bottom of the 10th, and a Zack Short sacrifice bunt moved him to third. Jarred Kelenic walked, took second on defensive indifference, and Albies drove in Duvall with a sacrifice fly to center.

On the mound for the Braves, Charlie Morton earned a no-decision after allowing one run on six hits over six innings and one walk with four strikeouts.

The Braves’ bullpen was again solid, allowing one run on three hits and one walk over four innings of work.

Atlanta is 7-3 in extra innings, and the win marked the Braves’ 21st comeback victory this season. It was Atlanta’s fifth walk-off win of the season.

The Braves played some small ball with two sacrifice bunts in the contest, matching the club’s total for sacrifice bunts over the first 95 games. The second sacrifice -- Short’s in the bottom of the 10th -- moved the eventual game-winning run to third. It was the first time the Braves recorded multiple sacrifice bunts in a single game since Aug. 14, 2021.