Nationals 3, Cardinals 1: Washington scored two runs on a seventh-inning wild pitch by Michael Wacha and held on for a home victory against St. Louis.

Anthony Rendon hit an early home run for the Nationals, who had lost five of their previous seven games. Allen Craig had two hits and scored the lone run for St. Louis, which had won five of its last six.

Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez (3-1) allowed one run and four hits over seven innings, but the key sequence in the game came in the eighth. Drew Storen relieved Tyler Clippard with Cardinals on second and third and one out before inducing Matt Holliday into a foul popout and Craig into a grounder to strand the tying runs on base.

Storen's escape preserved the 3-1 lead that Washington captured in the seventh, when Ian Desmond scored on a wild pitch and Danny Espinosa came around from second base when catcher Yadier Molina's toss sailed past a covering Wacha (2-1). The Cardinals' right-hander surrendered three runs - one earned - over seven innings and struck out seven batters without a walk.

Washington struck first, taking a 1-0 lead in the third as Rendon slammed a curveball from Wacha over the left-field wall for his third homer. St. Louis evened things up one inning later as three straight hits - a double by Craig and singles by Molina and Mark Ellis - brought home the tying run.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Cardinals committed three errors one night after the Nationals committed three in an 8-0 win by St. Louis. ... Gonzalez matched Wacha with seven strikeouts and walked one hitter. Rafael Soriano preserved his victory by working around a ninth-inning walk for his fourth save. ... Craig, who has endured a miserable April, has hit safely in seven straight games to raise his average to .180.