Friday’s Game Report: Cardinals 10, Nationals 0
By Rob Rains
Playing on the road has been tough for the Cardinals this season, which made the opener of a nine-game trip on Friday night the latest challenge.
Erick Fedde met it head-on.
Fedde became the first Cardinal since 2022 to throw a complete game, shutting out the Nationals in Washington, D.C.
The win was the sixth in a row for the Cardinals, who had been 4-13 away from Busch Stadium to begin this season.
Fedde recorded the first shutout of his career by scattering six hits. A leadoff double by the first batter in the game gave the Nationals their only runner to reach second base.
It was the second consecutive shutout for the Cardinals, who beat the Pirates 5-0 on Wednesday in St. Louis before a day off on Thursday.
Here is how Friday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals put the leadoff hitter on base in six of their nine innings, and each time he came around to score … Willson Contrera drove in three runs and Ivan Herrera returned from the injured list and had a pair of RBIs … Herrera, Victor Scott II and Jordan Walker all had sacrifice flies as the Cardinals took advantage of eight walks, one hit batter and three wild pitches to go along with their 11 hits … Nolan Arenado returned to the lineup after missing Wednesday’s game with back spasms and had three hits, scoring a pair of runs.
On the mound: After C.J. Abrams led off with the first with a double and moved to third on a groundout, Fedde retired the next two batters and the Nationals did not have another runner reach second base. Abrams had three of the Nationals six hits … Fedde threw 109 pitches, did not walk a batte and struck out a season-high eight. Five of the hits off Fedde came from a hitter leading off the inning, but he was able to get two double plays and stranded the other runners at first base.
Key stat: In their last three games, starters Matthew Liberatore, Sonny Gray and Fedde combined to allow only one run over 23 innings on just 11 hits with four walks and 24 strikeouts.
Worth noting: The last complete game for the Cardinals came from Jordan Montgomery on Aug. 22, 2022 when he shut out the Cubs in Chicago … Every Cardinals starter had at least one hit except Walker, who was hit by a pitch and walked to go along with his sacrifice fly … Herrera served as the DH and likely will appear more in that role than catching for the next couple of weeks with the team electing to keep a third catcher, Yohel Pozo, on the roster after optioning Luken Baker to Memphis,
Up next: Andre Pallante will get the start on Saturday in the second game of the series. First pitch is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. St. Louis time.
Follow Rob Rains on X @RobRains
