Chris Sale is 37 years old and has the lowest ERA of any starter Apple TV puts on television Friday night. He walks into Busch Stadium against a 29-year-old the Cardinals never planned to build a rotation around.
Braves at Cardinals: How to Watch
- First pitch: 8:15 p.m. ET, Busch Stadium, St. Louis
- Stream: Apple TV, exclusive, no blackouts
- Probables: LHP Chris Sale (9-6, 2.27) vs. RHP Kyle Leahy (7-4, 3.86)
- Records: Atlanta 54-38, St. Louis 48-44
- Radio: Cardinals on KMOX 1120 AM/104.1 FM; Braves on 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan
Atlanta Bravesâ Mike Yastrzemski, right, celebrates with third base coach Tommy Watkins as he rounds third base after hitting a grand slam home run off Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dennis Santana during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Lineups: Braves at Cardinals
Lineups subject to change.
| # | Braves | Pos | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Harris II | CF | .304 |
| 2 | Ozzie Albies | 2B | .272 |
| 3 | Matt Olson | 1B | .270 |
| 4 | Drake Baldwin | C | .257 |
| 5 | Mauricio DubÃģn | LF | .273 |
| 6 | Mike Yastrzemski | RF | .229 |
| 7 | Austin Riley | 3B | .207 |
| 8 | Dominic Smith | DH | .268 |
| 9 | Jim Jarvis | SS | .292 |
| # | Cardinals | Pos | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JJ Wetherholt | 2B | .267 |
| 2 | IvÃĄn Herrera | DH | .249 |
| 3 | Jordan Walker | RF | .294 |
| 4 | Nelson VelÃĄzquez | LF | .255 |
| 5 | Alec Burleson | 1B | .278 |
| 6 | Masyn Winn | SS | .247 |
| 7 | JosÃĐ FermÃn | CF | .265 |
| 8 | Blaze Jordan | 3B | .229 |
| 9 | Pedro PagÃĐs | C | .214 |
Sale at 37
Sale has made 16 starts in his sixteenth major league season and carries a 2.27 ERA with 112 strikeouts into a building where he has historically had no trouble. Atlanta sits at 54-38 under Walt Weiss and has spent the summer looking like the version of itself everyone expected in April, which is a sentence nobody could write about the other fifteen teams playing Friday.
Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale delivers to a New York Mets batter during the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, July 4, 2026, in Atlanta….