The Washington Nationals swept the St. Louis Cardinals in a three-game series at Busch Stadium. While the Montreal Expos had accomplished this feat, it was the first time it had happened for the franchise since being re-branded as the Washington Nationals. A single homerun in the bottom of the ninth inning from the Cards’ Brandon Moss wasn’t enough as Washington had already earned 6 runs.
At the end of the series, the Washington Nationals (17-7) maintained a 1.5 game lead over second place New York Mets in the NL East. The St. Louis Cardinals are in third place in the NL Central, six games behind the Chicago Cubs.
Grichuk tips his cap to Max Scherzer, a native St. Louisan who beat the #STLCards for the first time in his career. https://t.co/40oUAZPn7t
— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) May 1, 2016
The red birds will get another shot at the Nationals in a four-game series in Washington beginning May 26.
Cardinals hitting
The Cards had a serious challenge in Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer. They failed to earn any runs against Scherzer in seven innings, and only managed 4 base hits. As noted above, the offensive highlight for St. Louis was Brandon Moss with a homer in the ninth.
Brandon Moss puts his 6th HR 404 ft from home plate and into the seats! #STLCards pic.twitter.com/ePsoG4XLGC
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) May 1, 2016
Red-hot Aledmyz Diaz went 0-for-3 on Sunday, knocking him out of first place in the MLB for batting average at.405. Matt Carpenter was the only Cardinal with multiple hits on Sunday in St. Louis, going 2-for-4 on the night. Matt Holliday and Kolten Wong registered one hit a piece, as did pinch-hitter Matt Adams.
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Cardinals pitching
Prior to Sunday’s game against Washington, Carlos Martinez was one of the hottest pitchers in the league, 4-0 as a starter and the lowest ERA of any starter at one point. He managed to shut the Nationals down for five innings before giving up a total of four runs in the next 1.2 innings. He’s now 4-1 with a 2.60 ERA.
. @Tsunamy27 puts the #Nationals down 1-2-3 in the 4th and records his 5th strikeout in the process. #STLCards pic.twitter.com/3xDKwKNwlY
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) May 1, 2016
Kevin Siegrist finished the seventh inning for Martinez by striking out his first batter. He didn’t come back for the eighth inning. Instead, Seung Hwan Oh pitched the first two outs, giving up an earned run on two hits. Tyler Lyons pitched the final four outs for the Cards, giving up Washington’s sixth earned run of the game before the ninth inning was finished.
Upcoming Cardinals Schedule
As the Cards try to turn things around after their series with the Nationals, they remain at Busch Stadium for their next seven games. A four-game series with the Philadelphia Phillies begins on Monday, May 2 and concludes on Thursday, May 5. The Phillies are currently 15-10, placing them in third place in the National League East division. They are currently on the longest winning streak in the MLB at 6 games.
After their series with Philadelphia, the Cardinals begin a three-game series against division rivals Pittsburgh Pirates. Like Philly, the Pirates are 15-10. Pittsburgh is currently in second place in the NL Central, three games behind the Chicago Cubs and three games ahead of St. Louis. The Cardinals-Pirates series begins Friday, May 6 and concludes on Sunday, May 8.
Where to Watch
The St. Louis Cardinals vs. Philadelphia Phillies (Game 1 of the series) is Monday, May 2. Plenty of tickets are still available for purchase to watch the Cards vs. Phillies live at Busch Stadium. As a side note, Monday night’s game against Philadelphia will be both a “Boy Scouts Night” and “Girl Scouts Night,” in which current Scouts in attendance will earn a St. Louis Cardinals patch.
Cardinals-Phillies is scheduled to begin at 7:15 PM CST. The game will be televised regionally on FOX Sports Midwest.
[Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images]
