Washington Nationals vs St. Louis Cardinals Match Player Stats On Jul 02, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Jul 2, 2017

ST. LOUIS -- Manager Dusty Baker predicted his Washington Nationals would erupt Sunday night in the series finale at Busch Stadium, and he was right.

After being held to a run in each of the first two games this weekend against the St. Louis Cardinals, Washington's National League-leading offense got going against ace Carlos Martinez, leading to a 7-2 win.

Bryce Harper cracked two-run homers in each of his first two at-bats, giving him 20 for the season, as the Nationals (48-34) rapped out 10 hits and snapped a three-game losing streak.

The Cardinals (39-42) saw their four-game winning streak end.

Max Scherzer dominated St. Louis in seven shutout innings, giving up just two hits and walking two while fanning 12. It was his 10th double-figure strikeout outing this year and the 59th of his career.

Martinez (6-7), who along with Scherzer (10-5) was named to the NL All-Star team before the game, lasted just five innings. He gave up seven hits and five runs, walking four and striking out three as he failed to log a quality start for just the fifth time in 17 games.

St. Louis avoided shutout thanks to Tommy Pham's two-run homer off Enny Romero in the eighth.

Wilmer Difo and Brian Goodwin added sacrifice flies in the eighth for Washington.

Harper got the scoring started eight pitches into the game, ripping a two-run homer to right. It plated Goodwin, who led off with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Michael Taylor.

Harper did it again in the third, golfing an 0-2 changeup that was about shin-high into the St. Louis bullpen in right-center for his second two-run shot. Anthony Rendon made it 5-0 two batters later, rifling a double off the base of the left-center-field wall to score Daniel Murphy.

While Washington hitters were raking, Cardinals batters were mostly overmatched. Scherzer fanned 10 through the first five innings and allowed only Greg Garcia's leadoff single up the middle in the third and a two-out pinch-single by Luke Voit in the fifth.

NOTES: Washington 1B Ryan Zimmerman, 2B Daniel Murphy and RF Bryce Harper were chosen starters for the NL All-Star team, which will also include RHPs Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg. C Yadier Molina and RHP Carlos Martinez will represent the Cardinals. ... St. Louis made a pair of minor league trades Sunday based around international cap space. The Cardinals acquired INFs Stanley Espinal and Imeldo Diaz from Boston for cap considerations, then got OF Lane Thomas from Toronto for cap space. ... A ninth-inning run Saturday night allowed the Nationals to remain the only National League team not to be shut out this year. ... The Cardinals signed fourth-round draft pick Kramer Robertson, a shortstop from LSU. Robertson scored a Division I-high 83 runs for the Tigers, who reached the championship round of the College World Series before being bounced by Florida.