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Adams' HR, Lynn's gem lift Cardinals over Nats

Jun 14, 2014 - 6:02 AM St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Matt Adams went 2-for-3 with a home run in his return from the disabled list, and Lance Lynn bested Jordan Zimmermann in a classic pitchers' duel that resulted in a 1-0 St. Louis Cardinals victory over the Washington Nationals.

Lynn (7-4) took a perfect game into the sixth inning and yielded just two singles while fanning eight through eight. Trevor Rosenthal finished off the shutout by tossing a hitless ninth to nail down the Cardinals' fourth win in five tries.

"That was as good as we've seen," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Lynn.

Zimmermann (5-3) was nearly as good in a complete-game effort that was spoiled by Adams' blast in the bottom of the second inning. The right-hander allowed only three Cardinal hits and a walk while recording five strikeouts.

In a game where both starting pitchers were lights-out, Adams -- playing for the first time since straining his left calf on May 28 -- wound up making the difference in his first game back.

The first baseman belted the second pitch he saw from Zimmermann into the stands in right-center for what turned out to be all the support Lynn needed.

"(Zimmermann) hung a changeup to Adams. He didn't get that pitch to where he wanted," Nationals manager Matt Williams said.

Aided by shortstop Jhonny Peralta's diving stab to throw out Jayson Werth and end the top of the fourth, Lynn set down the first 16 Washington hitters before Jose Lobaton ended the bid with a single down the third-base line with one down in the sixth.

Lynn came out of the inning unscathed, then erased Werth's single in the seventh by getting Adam LaRoche to ground into a double play prior to fanning two in a 1-2-3 eighth.

Kolten Wong's error on a Denard Span grounder put the tying run aboard in the ninth, but Rosenthal struck out three hitters in the inning to earn his 18th save of the year.

Zimmermann gave up just one more hit -- a single to Adams in the fifth -- after the home run, and induced an impressive 17 outs on the ground in a performance where he deserved a better fate.

Game Notes

Lynn had allowed nine runs -- six earned -- in just 8 1/3 innings in losing his two previous starts ... The loss was Washington's 16th in its last 18 visits to Busch Stadium dating back to 2008 ... Zimmermann fell to 0-5 in eight career starts against St. Louis ... The Nationals have now gone seven straight games without an error, their longest stretch since a 13-game run from June 2-5, 2011.