ATLANTA -- When Andrelton Simmons botched a grounder, the St. Louis Cardinals seized their opportunity. For the Atlanta Braves, it was another night of missed chances. Matt Carpenters two-run double that helped carry St. Louis past the slumping Braves, who shook up their lineup but still lost their seventh in a row, 4-3 on Monday. The Cardinals scored three runs in the fifth inning, taking advantage of shaky defence by Atlantas Gold Glove shortstop. In fact, Simmons had a couple of plays that couldve been scored errors but were initially ruled hits. The second one was changed to an E-6 and turned out to be especially costly, leading to a pair of unearned runs. St. Louis built a 4-0 lead and barely held on to win the series opener. "It was big," Carpenter said. "Especially when we got out to a big lead, to be able to hold them off, that was big for us." Desperate for more offence, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez batted pitcher Aaron Harang eighth and put second baseman Ramiro Pena in the ninth spot. Pena had two hits, including a seventh-inning homer that brought the Braves within a run, but they couldnt overcome a 4-0 deficit. Juston Upton took a called third strike from Trevor Rosenthal to end the game with the potential tying run at second base -- Uptons fourth strikeout of the night and extending Atlantas woes with runners in scoring position. The Braves were 1 for 12 in those situations and are 6 of 51 during their losing streak, though Freddie Freeman saw some encouraging signs. "We hit some balls hard with runners on," he said. "We were in the game the whole game. We couldnt say that the past week." The last time the Braves had such a lengthy skid was May 21-28, 2012, when they dropped eight in a row. Their longest losing streak last season was four straight. Shelby Miller (4-2) got a shaky win, giving up six hits and two runs in five-plus innings. Trevor Rosenthal pitched out of trouble for his ninth save, giving up a leadoff single to Simmons. Jordan Schafer bunted the runner to second, but Pena flied out to right before Upton whiffed. Harang (3-3) took the loss, though he pitched much better than his previous start, when he was pounded for nine runs by the Marlins. This time, he gave up four runs in six innings but only two were earned. The game was scoreless until the fifth, when Peter Bourjos led off with a single before Mark Ellis grounded one off Simmons glove. The shortstop, looking to make a force at second, appeared to take his eyes off the ball as it skipped past him. After Miller bunted the runners to second and third, Carpenter doubled to right-centre to bring them both in. Matt Holiday followed with a hard liner past third baseman Chris Johnson to make it 3-0. "Those things happen," Harang said of Simmons error. "I told him not to be too hard on himself. Hes probably going to save my butt plenty of times this year." St. Louis added another run in the fifth on Bourjos RBI single, but Gonzalez challenged a call at third base that had seemingly given the Cardinals a 5-0 lead. Yadier Molinas bases-loaded grounder ricocheted off Harangs leg, right to Johnson at third. He caught it and blindly stepped back in search of the bag and managed to barely nick it, as the replay showed. The called was quickly overturned after a review of only 37 seconds. The Braves knocked out Miller in the bottom half of the sixth, the first three hitters reaching safely. The Cardinals went to the bullpen after Evan Gattis RBI single, and B.J. Upton followed with a sacrifice fly off Pat Neshek. Neshek escaped the jam by striking out Simmons. NOTES: The Cardinals sent pitcher RHP Joe Kelly back to St. Louis to continue his rehab from a strained left hamstring. "Joe just wasnt to the point where they thought they could push him, so keeping him around the rest of this road trip didnt make any sense," general manager John Mozeliak said. "I dont know Id call it a setback as much as he just wasnt progressing as quickly as we wanted." ... Atlanta RHP Gavin Floyd will make his season debut when he starts Tuesday against LHP Tyler Lyons (0-2) of the Cardinals. Floyd is coming back from Tommy John surgery and will start in place of Ervin Santana, who has a bruised right thumb. Mookie Betts Jersey . Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points, Shawn Marion had 22 and the Mavericks beat undermanned Philadelphia 124-112 Friday night, handing the 76ers their 10th straight loss. Clay Buchholz Red Sox Jersey . The Rangers announced after Thursdays 4-2 loss to the New York Yankees that they would purchase Williams contract from Triple-A Round Rock. 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He admitted that he took things for granted before the World Cup in South Africa, when he arrived considered the worlds top goalkeeper.Doncaster Knights will look to establish a first-leg advantage over Bristol in the Championship final on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports. For the third game running the Knights will stick with the same starting XV; having successfully defeated Yorkshire Carnegie 44-34 over two legs.In midfield, Will Hurrell will hope to make it three tries in three play-off games having dotted down in both the home and away legs against Carnegie. He is accompanied by partner in crime Mat Clark with Tyson Lewis and Andy Bulumakau out wide. Paul Jarvis lines up at full-back and it is the usual suspects, Dec Cusack and Michael Heaney, in the half backs.Upfront, Alex Shaw has shown no ill effects from the bump on the head sustained at Castle Park in the semi-final second-leg and lines up alongside Michael Hills and Latu Makaafi in the back row.Bristol coach Andy Robinson has made three changes for the Castle Park clash, as Jack Tovey, Will Cliff and Marco Mama return to full fitness. David Lemi captains a side that includes four Academy graduates and current Academy fly-half Calluum Sheedy.dddddddddddd Championship player of the season Jack Lam lines up in the back row, while the recipient of last seasons award - Matthew Morgan - is included among the replacements.Doncaster Knights: 15 Paul Jarvis, 14 Andy Bulumakau, 13 Mat Clark, 12 Will Hurrell, 11 Tyson Lewis, 10 Dec Cusack, 9 Michael Heaney, 1 Richard List, 2 Ben Hunter, 3 Colin Quigley, 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Jon Phelan, 6 Latu Makaafi, 7 Michael Hills (c), 8 Alex Shaw.Replacements: 16 Vili Veikoso, 17 Riccardo Brugnara, 18 WillGriff John, 19 Ollie Stedman, 20 Glen Young, 21 Dougie Flockhart, 22 Brad Field.Bristol Rugby: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Tom Varndell, 13 Jack Tovey, 12 Ben Mosses, 11 David Lemi (capt), 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Will Cliff; 1 Jack OConnell, 2 Ross McMillan, 3 Anthony Perenise, 4 Ian Evans, 5 Ben Glynn, 6 Marco Mama, 7 Jack Lam, 8 James Phillips.Replacements: 16 Chris Brooker, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Gaston Cortes, 19 Mark Sorenson, 20 Olly Robinson, 21 Martin Roberts, 22Matthew Morgan.Watch Doncaster v Bristol, Wed, 7.30pm, Sky Sports 2 HD. 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