ATLANTA, July 27 (UPI) -- Andrelton Simmons stroked a two-run double in the eighth inning Saturday, lifting the Atlanta Braves over St. Louis 2-0 in a battle of division leaders.
With the game in a scoreless deadlock in the eighth, Freddie Freeman coaxed a leadoff walk from Randy Choate (1-1). After Evan Gattis struck out, Freeman went to second on a single by Brian McCann.
Trevor Rosenthal took the mound and fanned Dan Uggla for the second out, but walked Chris Johnson to load the bases.
That brought up Simmons, who laced a pitch into left-center field, sending home a pair of runs.
Luis Avilan (3-0) earned the victory in relief of Julio Teheran, who had allowed only two hits over seven shutout innings.
Craig Kimbrel finished up with his 30th save for the National League East-leading Braves, who clinched their three-game series.
Joe Kelly tossed 6 1/3 scoreless frames for the NL Central-leading Cardinals.
