Cardinals 4 - 3 Nationals
Final
  for this game

Cardinals hold off Nationals

Apr 20, 2014 - 2:11 AM Washington, DC (SportsNetwork.com) - Tony Cruz had two hits and two RBI and the St. Louis Cardinals edged the Washington Nationals, 4-3, on Saturday.

Jon Jay also had two hits while starter Lance Lynn (4-0) and Matt Holliday drove in a run apiece for St. Louis, winners in six of eight. Lynn lasted 5 2/3 innings, yielding just a run on five hits.

"I'm not going to lie, my stuff was better today than it's been all year," said Lynn. "That's the disappointing thing about the way the game finished for me today. That's the best stuff I've had all year."

Closer Trevor Rosenthal took the hill with a 4-2 lead in the ninth and ran into trouble, walking pinch-hitter Zach Walters and allowing Denard Span to reach on a fielder's choice. The runners moved up one base on a balk.

Kevin Frandsen, who took over for Bryce Harper in left field in the seventh inning, grounded out to third to plate Walters and make it 4-3, but Rosenthal struck out Jayson Werth on three pitches to post his fifth save of the year.

Harper was pulled for not running out a grounder in the bottom of the sixth.

"He and I made an agreement that when we play the game, we hustle at all times," said Nationals manager Matt Williams. "As it turned out, his spot came up. Kevin Frandsen put on a nice AB against Rosenthal, but his spot came up with the ability to win the game. That's a shame for his teammates."

Span had a pair of hits in his return to the Washington lineup. The Nationals' leadoff hitter was removed from the 7-day concussion DL before the game.

Jordan Zimmermann (1-1 )was the unlucky loser after tossing seven strong innings. Zimmermann struck out six and allowed four runs -- one earned -- on seven hits.

Cruz singled in a pair of runs and Lynn helped himself with an RBI double to right to spot the Cardinals a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning. It was Lynn's first extra-base hit in 115 career plate appearances.

Earlier in the frame, Allen Craig worked a one-out walk and Jhonny Peralta reached on Anthony Rendon's throwing error. Both runners advanced on Kolten Wong's groundout, setting up Cruz.

Danny Espinosa got a run back when he led off the home half of the fifth with a homer just over the wall in right-center.

Lynn labored through the sixth inning, loading the bases on a single and two walks before giving way to Kevin Siegrist with two outs. After throwing his first two pitches for balls, the lefty got Espinosa to fly out to center to end the threat.

Holliday's RBI single to left in the top of the seventh brought Matt Carpenter around for a crucial insurance run for the St. Louis bullpen.

Adam LaRoche and Rendon ripped consecutive doubles off Carlos Martinez in the eighth to make it 4-2.

Game Notes

The Cardinals moved to 4-2 on their 11-game road trip ... The Cardinals had won nine of the last 10 meetings in this series ... Jay improved to 8-for-18 lifetime against Zimmermann ... Zimmermann hasn't beaten the Cardinals in eight career starts, including the playoffs ...Washington left nine men on base and hit just 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.






Related News