The Washington Nationals were not going to allow the St. Louis Cardinals to pull off another sweep on their red-hot streak. The Nats avoided the sweep on Thursday night with a 5-4 victory at Busch Stadium, snapping the Cardinals' season-high eight-game win streak. Bryce Harper stayed hot to lead his team back to .500 by recording thee hits and driving in three runs on the night.
The win for Washington also snapped their own four-game losing streak, as they won for just the third time in the past 10 games. Tanner Roark earned his eighth victory, despite giving up four runs, three of which were earned, over six innings. The Nationals' win continues to give them slight hope that they are still in the National League playoff picture, as they currently sit 6.5 games back of the final National League Wild Card spot.
Luke Weaver had an unfortunate outing for St. Louis, as he had four runs against him in 3.2 innings, although, only two of those runs were earned. Either way, he did still suffer his 11th loss, as he gave up seven hits, two of which came against the opposing pitcher, Roark. Tyson Ross did make a relief appearance for St. Louis and had just one unearned run against him in 3.1 innings of work.
Harrison Bader went deep on the night, while Kolten Wong and Paul DeJong had huge two-out RBIs to keep things close the entire way. Matt Carpenter also walked twice to extend his on-base streak to a career-high 34 games.
The Cardinals' loss drops them 4.5 games behind the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central race, but they are just 1.5 games out of the final NL Wild Card spot. The Cardinals will stay home for a crucial series with the Milwaukee Brewers this weekend. The Nationals will return home to host the Miami Marlins beginning on Friday night.
The win for Washington also snapped their own four-game losing streak, as they won for just the third time in the past 10 games. Tanner Roark earned his eighth victory, despite giving up four runs, three of which were earned, over six innings. The Nationals' win continues to give them slight hope that they are still in the National League playoff picture, as they currently sit 6.5 games back of the final National League Wild Card spot.
Luke Weaver had an unfortunate outing for St. Louis, as he had four runs against him in 3.2 innings, although, only two of those runs were earned. Either way, he did still suffer his 11th loss, as he gave up seven hits, two of which came against the opposing pitcher, Roark. Tyson Ross did make a relief appearance for St. Louis and had just one unearned run against him in 3.1 innings of work.
Harrison Bader went deep on the night, while Kolten Wong and Paul DeJong had huge two-out RBIs to keep things close the entire way. Matt Carpenter also walked twice to extend his on-base streak to a career-high 34 games.
The Cardinals' loss drops them 4.5 games behind the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central race, but they are just 1.5 games out of the final NL Wild Card spot. The Cardinals will stay home for a crucial series with the Milwaukee Brewers this weekend. The Nationals will return home to host the Miami Marlins beginning on Friday night.
