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ST. LOUIS -- Joe Kelly had to fight all night long. He had just enough to lead St. Louis to another big win. Kelly pitched six effective innings, Matt Holliday broke out of a slump with two doubles and the Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves 6-2 on Thursday. "I didnt have any of my good stuff," said Kelly, who threw 109 pitches. "From pitch one to the last pitch nothing was easy." 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 Kellys eight starts since he rejoined the rotation on July 6. "We needed a solid outing from him and he was very good," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. "He did a nice job for us." The NL East-leading Braves played without Jason Heyward, who is out with a broken right jaw after he was beaned during Wednesdays 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. The Braves had at least one batter reach in each of the first five innings, but couldnt come up with a big blow against Kelly, who struck out three and walked two. "He did a good job of keeping us off balance," Atlanta outfielder Justin Upton said. "He threw his fastball in the zone and got the job done." Kelly may not have been pleased with his effort, but his teammates certainly were impressed. "Hes like having a Ferrari in your garage," second baseman Matt Carpenter said. "Hes settling in as a starter and hes running with it. I love it when he goes out there and competes. Hes aggressive and hes pitching with confidence." 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. St. Louis slugger Matt 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 the Cardinals three-run fifth with an RBI double that made it 4-2. David Freese had a run-scoring groundout in the fourth for St. Louis, and then singled in a run 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. "It was good to get back out there and compete against a tough lineup," Maholm said. "Hopefully in five days Ill be able to make some adjustments and get back out there." Maholm helped himself with a leadoff single in the fifth. Upton then hit a one-out drive to left-centre 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 Carpenter, Carlos Beltran and Holliday. Pete Kozma sparked the big inning with a one-out walk. "Getting hits like that in a row, it doesnt happen a lot," Beltran said. "Were concentrating more with guys in scoring position." NOTES: The Cardinals began a string of 17 consecutive games against opponents with winning records. ... St. Louis RHP Jake Westbrook is questionable for his next start Monday with back stiffness. ... INF Elliot Johnson made his first start for the Braves and broke out of an 0-for-31 slump with a second-inning single. He was claimed off waivers from Kansas City on Wednesday. ... Atlantas Kris Medlen (10-11, 3.71 ERA) will face Adam Wainwright (14-7, 2.66 ERA) in the second game of the four-game set on Friday. ... Holliday grounded into his major league-leading 28th double play in the seventh. . Sweeting scored two in the first and three in the second before Strong (4-4) got two back in the fourth. Sweeting then scored three in the fifth, two in the sixth and one in the seventh to grab a commanding 9-2 lead. . -- Adrian Peterson takes a look around the league and sees big money flying everywhere. . The 25-year-old native of Milford, Conn., has 18 points in 41 games this season. The five-foot-eight 166-pound centre also has 28 points (10-18) in 15 games with AHL Oklahoma City. . It looked like being another miserable day for Moyes when Ashley Westwood put Villa in front from a 13th-minute free kick. But Rooney headed United level seven minutes later, and the striker netted his 16th of the season for the struggling champions from the penalty spot before halftime. .C. - Alberta prop Andrew Tiedemann will captain Canada against Uruguay on Friday, the opening day of competition at the IRB Americas Rugby Championship.Crystal Palace winger Andros Townsend has been called up to the England squad following the withdrawal of Raheem Sterling through injury. Manchester City winger Sterling is ruled out of the upcoming games against Malta and Slovenia with a thigh injury, meaning Townsend returns to the group for the first time since the pre-Euro 2016 friendlies against Turkey and Australia.The 25-year-old Townsend, who has 11 caps and three international goals to his name, has impressed since joining Palace from Newcastle United in the summer. Andros Townsend has been called up to the England squad The wide-man has been an ever-present for the Eagles in the Premier League this term, scoring in last months 4-1 win over Stoke City.Sterling played 87 minutes of Manchester Citys 2-0 defeat to Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Saturday. He follows Adam Lallana, NNathaniel Clyne and Danny Drinkwater in pulling out of interim manager Gareth Southgates first squad.dddddddddddd Watch NOW TV Watch Sky Sports for just ￡6.99. No contract. Southgate named his squad for Englands next two World Cup qualifiers on Sunday evening, with the players due to report to St. Georges Park on Tuesday.England host Malta at Wembley on Saturday before travelling to Ljubljana to take on Slovenia on October 11.You can watch Englands tour of Bangladesh, plus Premier League football and the Japan Grand Prix on Sky Sports. Upgrade now and enjoy three months at half price! Also See: Southgate: Rooney our leader Quinn doubts FA will step up England name Rashford, Lingard Southgates squad analysed ' ' '
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