Ryan Zimmerman returned to the lineup after a 58-game absence and sparked a six-run rally in the seventh inning that lifted the Washington Nationals to an 8-6 victory over the visiting St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday.

Danny Espinosa added three hits and an RBI and Mike Morse drove in a run and scored two for the Nationals, who picked up their fourth consecutive victory.
Zimmerman, who had been sitting out with following surgery to repair a torn abdominal muscle, went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts against Jaime Garcia but had no such problems against Miguel Batista (3-2), who came on for the Cardinals to begin the seventh.

Trailing 6-2 to begin the frame, Zimmerman kicked off the rally with an RBI double and came around to score on Espinosa’s single two batters later. Washington would end up pushing six runs across against three different relievers to grab the lead.

Henry Rodriguez (2-1) got credit for the win and Drew Storen worked the ninth for his 16th save.

St. Louis, which has now lost four in a row, got home runs from Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman in building the lead.