Alex Call went 4-for-5 with a homer and a career-high five RBIs as the visiting Washington Nationals defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 11-6 Thursday to earn a split of their four-game series.
Cesar Hernandez went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and Luke Voit went 2-for-3 with two walks and two runs for the Nationals (49-89), who won for the sixth time in nine games.
Yadier Molina hit two homers and drove in three runs for the Cardinals (81-57) in his 324th start with pitcher Adam Wainwright. They tied Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan for most career major league starts as battery mates.
Nationals starting pitcher Josiah Gray allowed four runs on six hits and three walks in 3 1/3 innings. Reliever Mason Thompson (1-0) earned the victory.
Wainwright allowed four runs on nine hits in five innings. Reliever Andre Pallante (6-5) took the loss.
The Cardinals struck first. Brendan Donovan drew a leadoff walk in the first inning, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Paul Goldschmidt‘s single.
The Nationals tied the game 1-1 in the second inning on doubles by Voit and Hernandez.
St. Louis took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the inning. Alec Burleson walked in his first big league at bat and Molina launched a two-run homer.
Washington cut the lead to 3-2 in the third inning on singles by Call and Lane Thomas and Joey Meneses’ sacrifice fly.
The Nationals surged ahead 4-3 in the fourth inning on singles by Nelson Cruz and Hernandez and Call’s two-run double.
Molina’s second homer tied the game 4-4 in the bottom of the inning, but the Nationals edged ahead 5-4 in the sixth on singles by CJ Abrams, Call and Luis Garcia.
They made it 7-4 in the seventh inning on a walk to Voit, Cruz’s single, Hernandez’s sacrifice fly and Abrams’ RBI double.
The Nationals blew the game open in the ninth as Voit walked, Cruz and Hernandez hit singles and Call blasted a three-run homer to make it 11-4.
Corey Dickerson’s two-run single in the bottom of the inning cut the lead to 11-6.
–Field Level Media