Atlanta Braves vs St. Louis Cardinals

Atlanta Braves at St. Louis Cardinals (2026-07-12). JR Ritchie vs Dustin May at Busch Stadium.

Starters — JR Ritchie has a 4.60 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, and 45.0 innings with 8.4 K/9, 5.6 BB/9, and 1.4 HR/9. His last three appearances were 1.1 IP, 1 ER, 1 K, 2 BB on July 9; 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 K, 1 BB on July 4; and 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 K, 4 BB on June 23. The strikeout rate is playable, but the walk rate and traffic are issues, and the recent trend is down. Dustin May has a 4.55 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, and 89.0 innings with 8.6 K/9, 2.43 BB/9, and 0.71 HR/9. His last three starts were 4.2 IP, 0 ER, 7 K, 0 BB on July 6; 0.2 IP, 5 ER, 1 K, 2 BB on July 2; and 2.0 IP, 6 ER, 2 K, 1 BB on June 21. May’s profile is steadier than the ERA suggests because the WHIP, walk suppression, and home-run prevention are all clearly better than Ritchie’s, and his trend is up despite the uneven recent game log.

Teams — Atlanta enters with a .722 OPS, 456 runs, a .247 team average, and a 3.61 team ERA with a 1.23 WHIP. The Braves are 4-6 over their last 10 games, but the season-long run production and pitching indicators remain stronger than St. Louis in most categories. The Cardinals have a .710 OPS, 426 runs, a .243 average, and a 4.14 team ERA with a 1.33 WHIP. St. Louis is 5-5 in its last 10, and the offense has been slightly less productive overall while the staff has allowed more baserunners than Atlanta’s.