Saturday’s Game Report: Cardinals 4, Nationals 2
By Rob Rains
The path to the Cardinals’ seventh consecutive win got a little rocky before they reached the finish line.
Andre Pallante was cruising along with a 4-0 lead before giving up a two-run homer to Dylan Crews in the eighth inning. Ryan Helsley had to get past a couple of speedbumps in the ninth to secure the win on Saturday against the Nationals in Washington, D.C.
Helsley retired the first two batters in the ninth but then a single and back-to-back walks loaded the bases before he was able to put the brakes on the would-be rally, retiring C.J. Abrams on a fly to right.
The seven-game streak is the longest by the Cardinals since they also won seven in a row in 2022. They are now two games above .500 at 21-19.
Here is how Saturday’s game broke down:
At the plate: All of the Cardinals runs came with two outs in the second inning. A hit batter, walk and a fielder’s choice groundout left runners on first and third with two outs before Pedro Pages and Victor Scott II delivered back-to-back RBI singles. Lars Nootbaar then drove in both of those runners with a double into the right-field corner … Masyn Winn singled and went to third on a one-out double by Brendan Donovan in the fifth, but the Cardinals could not add to their lead when Nolan Arenado lined into a double play … Donovan and Scott each extended their hitting streaks to 10 games. It’s the longest streak of Scott’s career.
On the mound: Pallante scattered three hits over seven innings before giving up a single and the home run in the eighth that knocked him out of the game. He did not walk a batter and struck out seven … JoJo Romero relieved Pallante and gave up a double to Abrams but was able to pitch around that and a two-out walk to protect the two-run lead … Helsley earned his seventh save by pitching out of the bases-loaded jam in the ninth.
Key stat: Cardinals starting pitchers Sonny Gray, Erick Fedde and Pallante strung together 23 consecutive scoreless innings before the Nationals scored in the eighth. Including the last starts from Miles Mikolas and Matthew Liberatore, the starters have a combined ERA of 1.53, allowing a total of six runs in 35 1/3 innings, in the last turn through the rotation.
Worth noting: Michael McGreevy picked up a win for Memphis on Saturday, allowing one earned run and striking out nine over five innings at Charlotte … This is Donovan’s second hitting streak of 10 or more games this season. His 48 hits were the most in the National League prior to games on Saturday night.
Up next: The Cardinals will try to complete their second consecutive three-game series sweep on Sunday behind Mikolas. First pitch is scheduled for 12:35 p.m. St. Louis time.
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