Joe Kelly pitched six effective innings, Matt Holliday broke out of a slump with two doubles and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves 6-2 on Thursday night.

David Freese drove in two runs as St. Louis won for the fifth time in six games.

The NL East-leading Braves played without Jason Heyward, who is out with a broken right jaw after he was beaned during Wednesday’s 4-1 win at the New York Mets. The outfielder had surgery on Thursday in Atlanta and could miss the rest of the regular season.

Justin Upton hit his 24th homer, but the Braves lost for the second time in three games at the start of a six-game trip. Atlanta had won eight of its last nine regular-season games against St. Louis.

Kelly (5-3) allowed two runs and seven hits while improving to 5-0 with a 1.79 ERA in his last seven starts. St. Louis improved to 7-1 in Kelly’s eight starts since he rejoined the rotation on July 6.

Holliday went 2 for 3 and drove in a run, matching the amount of hits he had during a 2-for-24 slide over his previous six games. He doubled and scored in the fourth, then capped St. Louis’ three-run fourth with an RBI double that made it 4-2.

Freese had a run-scoring groundout in the fourth and an RBI single in the seventh.

Paul Maholm (9-10) came off the disabled list and allowed five runs, four earned, and five hits in 5 1-3 innings for Atlanta. It was the first game for the left-hander since he left a July 20 start at the Chicago White Sox with a bruised left wrist.

Maholm helped himself with a leadoff single in the fifth. Upton then hit a one-out drive to center for his eighth homer this month, giving Atlanta a 2-1 lead.

St. Louis went back in front in the bottom half on consecutive run-scoring doubles by Matt Carpenter, Carlos Beltran and Holliday. Pete Kozma sparked the big inning with a one-out walk.

— Associated Press —

Jake Westbrook didn’t last long enough to earn the victory on Wednesday, but the light-hitting St. Louis pitcher used his bat to spark a six-run, second-inning outburst that led to a Cardinals win over the Milwaukee win.

The Cardinals jumped out to a seven-run lead and then held on for an 8-6 victory.

Westbrook, who entered the game hitting only .167 with two RBIs this season, smacked a bases-loaded double into the left-center field gap that scored two runs, starting an onslaught that propelled the Cardinals a 7-0 lead.

”I’m happy to be able to contribute in that sense, especially with the bases loaded and nobody out and to put a good swing on the ball,” Westbrook said.

Westbrook didn’t fare as well on the mound, however. He fell one out short of earning this eighth win of the year, giving up four earned runs and nine hits in 4 2-3 innings. He walked one and struck out one during a 75-pitch outing.

In his previous start on Aug. 16, when he threw a career-high 124 pitches, Westbrook gave up six earned runs in 6 2-3 innings.

”I still felt like I pitched a lot better than I have been in terms of throwing strikes and getting ahead of guys,” Westbrook said. ”I actually made some good pitches that they put some good swings on. Getting two quick outs in the fifth and not being able to finish it off is pretty frustrating for me.

”The bullpen came in and picked me up and finished it off, and the offense was great.”

Carlos Beltran and Allen Craig hit towering home runs in the game-changing second inning. Matt Holliday also homered later in the game and Shane Robinson had three hits for the Cardinals, who remain close behind the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Central race.

”It was a big win,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. ”Those are the ones you’ve got to find a way to win, when you put that kind of offensive production up early.”

After taking a one-run lead in the first inning on a double by Craig, the Cardinals torched Brewers starter Tom Gorzelanny (3-5) in the second.

”You make mistakes and you pay for them, especially against good-hitting teams,” Gorzelanny said. ”I left balls over the middle, (and made) bad pitch selection.”

Following Matt Carpenter’s sacrifice fly, Beltran launched a two-run shot that caromed off the center-field scoreboard. With two out, Craig hit a solo homer to right-center.

”We are happy that we were able to win the series,” Beltran said. ”That is basically what is important for us right now.”

The Brewers cut into the lead in the third on a three-run homer by Aramis Ramirez, and then added two runs in the fifth.

Juan Francisco broke out of an 0-for-15 slump, during which he struck out 10 times, with a run-scoring single. Sean Halton drove in another run with a hit, cutting the deficit to 7-5 and chasing Westbrook.

”(Westbrook) started out pretty good, but for whatever reason they were finding the good part of the bat and finding holes,” Matheny said.

Kevin Siegrist struck out pinch-hitter Jeff Bianchi with the bases loaded to end the fifth inning. Siegrist (2-1) recorded two outs to notch the victory. Four Cardinals relievers held the Brewers to one run over the final 5 1-3 innings to preserve the win.

Holliday’s solo home run in the ninth extended the lead to 8-5.

Edward Mujica earned his 33rd save in 35 attempts despite giving up a long solo home run to Logan Schafer with one out in the ninth.

Gorzelanny surrendered seven runs and 10 hits in 3 2-3 innings. He walked one and struck out five.

”He didn’t command the ball that well early and then they also hit some pretty good pitches. We know they are a good hitting club, and when you don’t hit your spots, they are going to put a good swing on it,” Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke said.

Khris Davis had a career-best three hits for Milwaukee.

”He keeps showing he can hang in there. He works the count well, which I really like,” Roenicke said. ”He’s an aggressive swinger, but he’s not a hacker. He doesn’t just go up there and swing at everything. He swings at the pitch he wants to swing at.”

— Associated Press —