Cardinals 1, Nationals 0: Matt Adams clubbed a solo homer and Lance Lynn tossed eight scoreless innings of two-hit ball to lift host St. Louis in the opener of a three-game series.

Lynn (7-4) struck out eight and retired the first 16 batters he faced before giving up a one-out single to Jose Lobaton in the sixth. Trevor Rosenthal struck out the side in the ninth to register his 18th save and wrap up the Cardinals' four shutout in five games.

Washington wasted a superb outing from Jordan Zimmermann (5-3), who yielded one run on three hits over eight innings as the Nationals lost for only the fourth time in 14 games. The hard-luck loss dropped Zimmermann to 0-5 in eight starts versus St. Louis.

Adams, who was activated off the 15-day disabled list earlier Friday, provided Lynn and the Cardinals with the only run they would need, hammering a 419-foot homer to center with two outs in the second inning.

Jayson Werth singled with one out in the seventh for Washington but was erased when Adam LaRoche hit into a double play. Denard Span reached on a two-out error by Kolten Wong in the ninth before Rosenthal fanned Anthony Rendon to end it.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Nationals SS Ian Desmond had his seven-game hitting streak snapped. ... Cardinals CF Jon Jay was hitless in three at-bats and also had his seven-game hitting streak snapped. ... To make room for the return of Adams, the Cardinals optioned rookie OF Oscar Taveras to Triple-A Memphis.