ST. LOUIS — Given three runs of support by Lars Nootbaar’s homer in the first inning and then a fourth run on Blaze Jordan’s RBI single in the fourth, Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore turned in an outing Saturday night at Busch Stadium that not only helped secure a win against the Braves. The outing the left-hander spun also ensured him a strong finish to the first half with the All-Star break looming.

Liberatore completed six scoreless innings and recorded six strikeouts on 71 pitches to help the Cardinals to a 4-1 win over Atlanta in the second-to-last game before Major League Baseball’s All-Star break begins on Monday. Liberatore’s outing marked the first scoreless outing of six or more innings by the Cardinals’ opening day starter.

The left-hander, who began Saturday with a 5.34 ERA, kept the Braves to four hits and one walk before his exit at the start of the seventh inning. Liberatore did not allow a hit until there were two outs in the fourth inning. Only once in an inning did he allow more than one batter to reach base against him as he protected a lead powered by Nootbaar’s three-run homer off Braves starter Reynaldo Lopez and Jordan’s RBI single off Lopez that scored Nootbaar from second base.

Liberatore, who had been stung by big innings in recent starts, had runners reach the corners in the sixth, but he worked his way out of the jam with an inning-ending double play.

The only run the Cardinals (50-44) allowed to the Braves came in the seventh inning with rookie reliever Luis Gastelum on the mound.

Gastelum allowed a leadoff homer to Mauricio Dubon. Gastelum worked around a one-out double to hand off a three-run lead to George Soriano and All-Star closer Riley O’Brien.

After Soriano's scoreless eighth inning, O'Brien stranded runners on first and second base to collect his 24th save of the season.

Collecting Ks

Through the first 3 2/3 innings of his Saturday start against Atlanta, Liberatore made efficient work of Braves hitters. The left-hander retired 11 of the first 12 batters he faced on 47 pitches.

The only batter who reached base vs. Liberatore over that span was All-Star Ozzie Albies, who walked on five pitches with two outs in the first inning. The free pass was negated by a strikeout of All-Star Matt Olson and a lineout from All-Star Drake Baldwin.

Liberatore’s strikeout of Olson was one of six strikeouts he collected within the first four innings. After beginning the game with a strikeout of leadoff hitter Michael Harris II, the lefty sat down Olson and then got Dubon and Austin Riley in back-to-back at-bats in the second that ended with whiffs on his curveball. He collected his fifth strikeout by getting Joey Bart to whiff on a slider that broke on the inner half of the plate and then got Olson to fish for a curveball for the second out of the fourth inning.

Olson’s strikeout was the sixth and final strikeout of the evening by Liberatore. The hitless start ended after Olson’s strikeout. A single Baldwin dropped into left field snapped it before.

Burleson’s pick ends sixth

In the lone inning Liberatore allowed multiple runners to reach base, Alec Burleson’s pick on a throw from Masyn Winn helped the Cardinals complete a double play that got Liberatore through a sixth inning for the first time since May 7.

Working with runners on the corners and Baldwin batting, Liberatore fell into a 2-0 count against the reigning National League rookie of the year because of curveballs and sliders that bounced in the dirt. The Cardinals’ starter went back to his slider in the hitter-friendly count and coaxed a groundout to second baseman JJ Wetherholt.

Wetherholt fielded the grounder cleanly and threw down to Winn at second base for the first out. Winn’s throw to first to turn the double play short-hopped Burleson, but was scooped by the first baseman.

Nootbaar gets active early

After Jordan Walker kept the bottom half of the first inning churning with a two-out single to the opposite field, Nootbaar seized the chance to bring in the Cardinals’ first run with a swing that brought in three on a homer.

The homer marked the third of Nootbaar’s season. It came as Nootbaar has looked to elevate his offense.

Entering Saturday’s game, Nootbaar had not homered since June 11. He owned a .143 batting average through 28 at-bats this month. He had driven in two runs and slugged .214 in his previous nine games ahead of his Saturday night start in left field.

The homer not only snapped a drought for Nootbaar, but was the first of his contributions to the run column.

When the fourth inning rolled around, Nootbaar led off the frame with a walk. The at-bat to draw the free pass from Lopez began with Nootbaar down 0-2 in the count. It finished with Nootbaar taking a fastball and three sliders for balls.

Nootbaar used his speed to swipe second base during Winn’s at-bat and later raced from second base to home on a two-out single by Jordan.

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