ATLANTA — Nine batters, five runs, two outs and one laser line drive off his right ankle, St. Louis Cardinals starter Dustin May was knocked out of his start abruptly Thursday, and the Cardinals were quickly in a bind.

That did not mean they were out of the game.

The ramifications of Thursday night’s series finale against the Atlanta Braves will play out over the next 24 hours as the Cardinals determine the status of May and consider shuffling the bullpen for a fresh arm or two. May was diagnosed at the ballpark with a bruised right ankle, and though he initially tried to pitch through the discomfort, the results on both sides of the injury were too poor for the right-hander to continue in the game.

By only collecting two outs from his 34 pitches, May left the Cardinals in a spot where if they were to win the game, the bullpen had to cover at least 25 outs.

And cover they did.

With eventual help from a seven-run cloudburst by the offense, the bullpen carried the Cardinals the remainder of the game for an 11-5 victory at Truist Park and a series win against theBraves.

Along the way, Jordan Walker took over the lead in the NL for RBIs.

The Cardinals right fielder and Georgia native hit a three-run homer in the first and added an RBI single during the decisive, seven-run seventh to reach 63 RBIs for the season. That is already a career best by a dozen RBIs.

Nathan Church and Alec Burleson also hit home runs – Church to rally the Cardinals for a tie game and Burleson to add an exclamation point in the ninth inning. Masyn Winn had three hits in the game and brought home Walker for the seventh and final run of the inning that turned the game, six innings after the Cardinals had to scramble because their starter was out.

Six different relievers pitched in the game and covered 8 1/3 scoreless innings. Justin Bruihl pitched the first 2 2/3 innings to shoulder what he could from what May left, and he allowed one hit in that time. Gordon Graceffo was flawless in his inning for the win, and Matt Svanson struck out two in an expedient ninth to send the Cardinals to Chicago for a day game at Wrigley Field on Friday.

A magnificent seven in 7th

For the second time in three games at Truist, Church hoisted the Cardinals into the game with a home run. His three-run shot broke a tie in Tuesday game, and two-run shot to spark the seventh inning Thursday yanked the Cardinals back into a tie.

Despite all of the drama in the first inning from Atlanta, they led only by two runs, and the Cardinals spent the entirety of the middle innings within reach because the bullpen resisted any attempt by the Braves to build upon their 5-3 lead.

Church erased it.

With his seventh homer of the season, Church leveled the game two batters into the breakout seventh inning.

The first six batters of the inning reached base safely for the Cardinals, and by the time the Braves found a way to get an out a rout was on. After Church cleared the bases, Blaze Jordan, pinch-hitter Joes Fermin and JJ Wetherholt filled them up again. Wetherholt’s single scored pinch-runner Bryan Torres to break the tie and speed the Cardinals toward their larger lead.

On his 29th birthday, Torres scored the go-ahead run for the game on manager Oli Marmol’s 40th birthday.

The offense didn’t stop there.

Walker brought home his fourth RBI of the game when he greeted reliever Ian Hamilton with a single. Lars Nootbaar followed with a double, and the Cardinals were nine batters into the inning before Atlanta could find a reliever to get a second out. Shortstop Masyn Winn already had three hits in the game and a single earlier in the seventh when he batted with Walker at third in the seventh inning.

Winn chopped a grounder to first baseman Matt Olson, and Olson whipped the ball home trying to get Walker before he touched the play.

Walker dove hands-first toward the plate, but he tucked back his left arm as Drake Baldwin readied to make the tag. At 6-foot-6 Walker was also able to slide farther away from home plate and still make the reach to touch the back point. He avoided Baldwin’s tag and then got his right hand to the back of the plate for the Cardinals’ seventh run of the inning.

Atlanta challenged the play – because why not – and the replay confirmed that Walker had swam around the tag to give the Cardinals a 10-5.

May takes a bruising

Pitching for the first time since his spot in the rotation was skipped and gifted a three-run lead before taking the mound, May struggled from the start.

He allowed a leadoff single and then things got worse.

The right-hander had difficulty finding the strike zone. May walked consecutive batters to load the bases before getting an out. He did bend a sweeping slider past cleanup hitter Michael Harris II for a strikeout that momentarily slowed Atlanta’s rally. It didn’t come close to stopping it. Within two batters, the Braves had the lead and May had a bruised ankle.

First, Mauricio Dubon improved to 7 for 9 in his career with the bases loaded by singling off May and bringing home Atlanta’s first run.

Then came the liner.

Dominic Smith smoked a pitch back at May, and it connected with his right foot so cleanly, so powerfully that the carom took the ball into the right-field territory. What could have been an inning-ending double play ground ball was instead a bases-clearing double that left May doubled-over on the mound.

The 30th pitch May threw caused the bruise.

The 31st was grounded softly for an infield single.

The 32nd was a sacrifice fly for May’s second out.

When the next batter roped another single, May was removed from the game.

The Cardinals gave the right-hander additional rest in the past week because of a sore lower back and the fallout from his first career shutout. May had thrown back-to-back 101-pitch games before allowing six runs on six hits through two innings at Kansas City. That gave the Cardinals a natural place to pause and skip the right-hander, and then give him what became 10 days of rest. The result even before the bruise – but especially as a result of it – was not swell.

In his previous two starts, May has allowed 11 runs on 11 hits.

He’s collected only eight outs.

Walker drives Cards to early lead

With one swing, Walker doubled his RBI total at his home-state’s big-league ballpark.

Walker crushed a three-run homer in the first inning to stake the Cardinals to a 3-0 lead that would not last long.

But it did wake up the offense.

The Cardinals finished Wednesday night’s loss on a 0-for-25 skid as a team. They did not get a hit after the first inning, and they did not reach base in any of the final six innings. The Braves cinched the win Wednesday by retiring 20 consecutive Cardinals. It would not get to No. 21. Wetherholt opened Thursday’s game with a leadoff single.

Atlanta starter Hurston Waldrep, who was announced as the starter only the night before, plunked Ivan Herrera to put two on before the game was a few minutes old.

Walker took advantage.

Two days away from learning if he’s been selected for his first All-Star Game, Walker hit his 19th homer of the summer. During the Cardinals’ offensive downturn in recent weeks, Walker’s lack of thump has contributed. He’d gone 14 games since his previous home run, and the blast in front of his parents and other family members gave the Cardinals a welcome jolt back into the series. It also gave Walker six career RBIs and two homers in nine games at Truist Park.

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