After winning two straight games against the Washington Nationals, with both wins being by the score of 8-5, the St. Louis Cardinals and Nationals faced off in the series finale on Wednesday night at Busch Stadium. While Michael Wacha was the original starter for St. Louis, he was scratched in the afternoon preceding the game.
Instead, the pitching matchup for the game featured Tyler Lyons (2-1, 3.96), and Max Scherzer (11-11, 2.88).
And while Lyons had a productive day on the mound, the Cardinals’ offense could not capitalize on their 16 hits, as they fell to the Nationals 4-3.
The first run of the game was scored in the bottom of the second inning. Brandon Moss, who just one night prior hit a walk-off, three-run home run to win it for St. Louis, launched yet another home run, this one giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.
Calculated at 454 feet, it was the longest home run hit by a left-handed batter in the history of Busch Stadium III, and one of the ten longest home runs in the history of the stadium in general. But that would be the only run scored by St. Louis in the inning.
Home runs were the theme of the night, as Jayson Werth hit a solo shot in the top of the third inning to tie the game up at 1-1. The following inning, Ryan Zimmerman, who had already been on a hot streak, hit a home run of his own, this time giving Washington the 2-1 lead over the Cardinals as the game headed to the bottom of the fourth inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Cardinals were able to tie up the game at 2-2. With Jason Heyward and Jhonny Peralta on base, Tommy Pham singled, scoring Heyward to make it a 2-2 game. But with Lyons still on the mound, Zimmerman struck again, hitting his second home run of the night to once again give the Nationals the lead. The final line of the evening for Lyons: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 Ks.
But the Cardinals weren’t done, as the back and forth game continued.
The bottom of the seventh inning began with a groundout by Heyward. Peralta and Moss both followed with singles of their own, bringing up Pham, who struck out swinging. This brought up Kolten Wong with two outs, and Wong made the most of it, hitting a single scoring Peralta to make it 3-3.
However, Zimmerman struck one last time for the Nationals, and it was all they ended up needed. With Jonathan Broxton on the mound to start the eighth inning, Anthony Rendon was issued a walk, and later advanced on a sacrifice. Up next stepped Zimmerman, who doubled home Rendon to make it 4-3, which turned out to be the final score, as the Cardinals became the first team in MLB history to garner 16 hits and 16 strikeouts in a nine-inning game.
Despite the loss, they still are 6.0 games ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates, as the Cardinals, Pirates, and Cubs all lost on Wednesday.
On Friday, the Cardinals and Pirates begin a critical series between heated divisional rivals.
(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
