Danny Espinosa’s three-run homer into the right-field bullpen with two outs in the 10th inning lifted the Washington Nationals to their sixth straight win with a 7-4 home triumph over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.
Espinosa’s 12th homer of the season came off St. Louis reliever Fernando Salas (3-1) and allowed the Nationals to sweep the Cardinals for the first time since 2007.
The winning pitcher was Sean Burnett (2-3), who recorded a scoreless 10th inning.
The Nationals led 4-3 going into the ninth, but closer Drew Storen blew his second save of the season when he allowed a solo homer to Yadier Molina.
Washington received three home runs, including back-to-back shots by Jayson Werth and Roger Bernadina to lead off the game. Laynce Nix added his 10th homer of the season in the sixth inning.
St. Louis outfielder Matt Holliday returned to the lineup after missing 13 games with a quadriceps injury. He went 2-for-3 and hit his seventh home run of the season.
Albert Pujols added his 16th homer in the eighth inning to pull the Cards to within a run.
St. Louis | Washington | |
Kyle Lohse | Player | John Lannan |
No Decision | W/L | No Decision |
6.0 | IP | 7.0 |
3 | Strikeouts | 2 |
7 | Hits | 6 |
6.00 | ERA | 2.57 |
St. Louis | Washington | |
Matt Holliday | Player | Danny Espinosa |
2 | Hits | 3 |
1 | RBI | 4 |
1 | HR | 1 |
5 | TB | 7 |
.667 | Avg | .600 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
St. Louis | 8 | 3 | 17 | .216 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
Washington | 10 | 4 | 24 | .256 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 |