Lars Nootbaar launched a three-run home run and Matthew Liberatore tossed six stellar innings on Saturday to help lift the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-1 victory over the visiting Atlanta Braves.

Liberatore (5-6) threw six scoreless innings, allowing four hits while striking out six and walking one for the Cardinals, who clinched the final series before the All-Star break.

Reynaldo Lopez (4-2) allowed four runs on five hits across five innings, striking out three and walking one for the Braves, who dropped their fifth game in seven tries. Mauricio Dubon homered for Atlanta, which saw its lead over the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East reduced to two games.

After Lopez issued first-inning singles to Ivan Herrera and Jordan Walker, Nootbaar launched his third home run of the season — a 435-foot blast — to give the Cardinals an early 3-0 edge.

Nootbaar began the fourth with a walk and stole second before scoring on Blaze Jordan’s two-out single, pushing the margin to four.

Atlanta threatened in the sixth, as Michael Harris II led off the inning with a base hit and Matt Olson’s one-out single placed runners on the corners. Liberatore then got Drake Baldwin to ground into an inning-ending double play to end the inning.

Rookie Owen Murphy threw three perfect innings in relief of Lopez.

In the seventh, St. Louis’ Luis Gastelum took over, allowing Dubon’s 10th home run on his first pitch. After allowing Eli White’s one-out double, Gastelum retired Joey Bart and Jim Jarvis.

George Soriano tossed a perfect eighth for St. Louis.

Cardinals closer Riley O’Brien entered in the ninth, walking Baldwin and hitting Dominic Smith with two outs to bring the tying run to the plate. O’Brien then stuck out Bart to secure his 24th save in 28 attempts.

–Field Level Media

The Washington Mystics begin a stretch of six games in 11 days by hosting the struggling Seattle Storm on Sunday.

Washington is the youngest team in the WNBA, with only two rostered players beyond their second season of WNBA competition, but even its young roster is expected to be tested by the busy schedule.

Meanwhile, Seattle (6-18) has won three of its last six games but is still next-to-last in the league standings.

Washington (10-10) has won five of its last eight, but the Mystics come off a brutal 62-49 home loss to Golden State on Monday. Washington set a league season-low for scoring in the loss and tallied just 16 points in the second half, marking a league low for a half since 2021.

Kiki Iriafen notched 12 points and nine boards and Shakira Austin added 11 points and 11 rebounds. So meager was Washington’s offensive output that Iriafen and Austin’s total of nine made field goals equaled the rest of the team’s output combined.

The Mystics certainly missed guard Sonia Citron, out due to injury for her second straight game. Citron, in her second season, is averaging a team-high 18.6 points per game, and Washington is hopeful of her return from right knee soreness.

“I think we’re still growing and getting better,” Mystics coach Sydney Johnson said. “It’s really, really hard to win in this league … and we’ve got to lean into our player development and our daily work.”

Seattle fell to the host Atlanta Dream 89-78 on Thursday. The Storm trailed by 17 points at halftime, digging too deep of a hole to overcome in the second half. Natisha Hiedeman tallied 20 points and grabbed five boards, and center Dominique Malonga added 15 points and nine rebounds. Rookie Flau’jae Johnson notched 14 points and five assists.

Coach Sonia Raman praised a second-half rally that saw Seattle trim a 20-point deficit to eight points.

“We have our standard and we know what we’re capable of,” Raman said. “It’s just a matter of building our consistency.”

Washington and Seattle have split their first two meetings, with the Storm winning 97-85 on May 24 and the Mystics countering with a 78-64 victory on May 27. Both of those games were played in Seattle.

–Field Level Media

Jacob Misiorowski was scheduled to oppose fellow ace Paul Skenes and the host Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday afternoon, but the hard-throwing Milwaukee Brewers right-hander was scratched due to arm fatigue and will also miss the All-Star Game on Tuesday night.

Misiorowski, 24, told reporters that he will not be placed on the injured list and expects to rejoin the rotation following the All-Star break.

“It (stinks) to miss a start and the All-Star Game, but I know it’s the right thing to do in this situation,” Misiorowski said. “My arm is a little tired.”

Left-hander Robert Gasser will start in Misiorowski’s place Sunday as the Brewers try to salvage the finale of the three-game series.

Named an All-Star for the second straight season, Misiorowski is 10-4 in 18 starts, spanning 111 innings, and leads the majors with 167 strikeouts and a 1.62 ERA while walking 27. In two seasons, he is 15-7 with a 2.64 ERA in 33 games (32 starts) with 254 strikeouts and 58 walks over 177 innings.

Misiorowski leads all starting pitchers this season with a 100.5 mph average four-seam fastball velocity, and he has thrown 670 pitches at 100 mph or faster — the most in the majors.

Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy made the announcement regarding Misiorowski’s status after Saturday’s doubleheader sweep by the Pirates.

“He didn’t recover well from his last start, and his throwing program was clunky today, so we’re just going to give him some extra rest,” Murphy said.

–Field Level Media