The St. Louis Cardinals' turnaround to their season continued on Wednesday night, as they earned their eighth straight victory by beating the Washington Nationals for a third straight night, 4-2. Austin Gomber threw six shutout innings and struck out six, as the Cardinals improved to 19-9 under interim manager Mike Schildt. That is the most victories in the first 28 games as a manager in Cardinals' franchise history.
Marcell Ozuna went deep in the first inning and the Cards never looked back, as Gomber improved to 3-0 on the season in his fourth start of the year. The "Red-birds are 18-9 since the All-Star break and have now won six straight series after taking the first three of this four-game set. Gomber's outing ended with three straight strikeouts to strand a Bryce Harper leadoff double in the sixth inning. He also stranded the bases loaded in the fourth inning by striking out Michael A. Taylor.
The Nationals have now dropped four straight games, and seven of their past nine overall, and are now a game under .500 and nine games back of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East. This most recent skid started with David Bote's walk-off grand slam last Sunday night against the Chicago Cubs.
Ozuna's long ball was his 14th of the year and his first since July 30th, which spanned 62 plate appearances. Harrison Bader and Yadier Molina also drove in runs, while Bud Norris came on for his 23rd save in 27 opportunities. Matt Carpenter also stayed hot by extending his on-base streak to 33 straight games with a walk in the fifth inning. He did leave the game after getting hit by a pitch in the hand in the seventh. Fortunately, x-rays were negative.
The Cardinals kept pace with the Cubs, who doubled-up the Milwaukee Brewers earlier in the day. They trail by just four games in the NL Central race and just one game for the final National League Wild Card spot, as they will finish their series with the Nationals on Thursday night.
Marcell Ozuna went deep in the first inning and the Cards never looked back, as Gomber improved to 3-0 on the season in his fourth start of the year. The "Red-birds are 18-9 since the All-Star break and have now won six straight series after taking the first three of this four-game set. Gomber's outing ended with three straight strikeouts to strand a Bryce Harper leadoff double in the sixth inning. He also stranded the bases loaded in the fourth inning by striking out Michael A. Taylor.
The Nationals have now dropped four straight games, and seven of their past nine overall, and are now a game under .500 and nine games back of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East. This most recent skid started with David Bote's walk-off grand slam last Sunday night against the Chicago Cubs.
Ozuna's long ball was his 14th of the year and his first since July 30th, which spanned 62 plate appearances. Harrison Bader and Yadier Molina also drove in runs, while Bud Norris came on for his 23rd save in 27 opportunities. Matt Carpenter also stayed hot by extending his on-base streak to 33 straight games with a walk in the fifth inning. He did leave the game after getting hit by a pitch in the hand in the seventh. Fortunately, x-rays were negative.
The Cardinals kept pace with the Cubs, who doubled-up the Milwaukee Brewers earlier in the day. They trail by just four games in the NL Central race and just one game for the final National League Wild Card spot, as they will finish their series with the Nationals on Thursday night.
