Nationals 5, Cardinals 4
ST. LOUIS -- After a rough first inning, Stephen Strasburg settled into a rhythm and helped the Washington Nationals start a tough road trip with a win in a place where they rarely prevail.
Scattering eight hits over seven innings and fanning nine, Strasburg improved to 4-0 as Washington edged the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 Friday night at sold-out Busch Stadium.
Strasburg gave up only four hits after the first inning and recorded seven outs in a row via strikeout from the fourth through the sixth as the Nationals (15-7) upped their mark in St. Louis to 8-26 since moving from Montreal following the 2004 season.
Mike Leake (0-3) was touched for five runs off five hits and a walk in seven innings, striking out two. Leake, who signed a five-year free agent deal for $80 million in December, permitted at least four runs in all five of his starts this year.
Playing roughly 15 hours after arriving in town following a 3-0 loss in Arizona on Thursday night, the Cardinals (12-11) rallied in the eighth, pulling within a run on a two-run homer by Matt Adams.
They pressed the issue in the ninth as pinch-hitter Kolten Wong drew a leadoff walk, but closer Jonathan Papelbon worked around it to bag his eighth save in nine chances.
Washington broke its 22-inning scoreless streak right away as leadoff man Michael Taylor swatted a 2-0 pitch from Mike Leake into the St. Louis bullpen behind the right-center field wall for his third homer of the year. It was Taylor's fourth leadoff homer of his career.
The Cardinals got to Stephen Strasburg in their half of the first for two runs with four hits. Matt Holliday lined a double off the left-center field wall to score Matt Carpenter before Matt Adams grounded a single through a nearly vacant left side of the infield to plate Holliday.
That lead lasted until the fourth, when the Nationals scored four runs. Daniel Murphy's RBI single tied it, Jayson Werth's sacrifice fly to right untied it and Danny Espinosa's first homer of the year to right center with Murphy aboard capped the eruption.
NOTES: C Yadier Molina got the night off after starting in 21 of the Cardinals' first 22 games, with Eric Fryer picking up his second start. ... One big reason for Washington's fast start? Its defense has committed an MLB-low six errors and ranks third in defensive efficiency, converting 74 percent of batted balls into outs. The Nationals were 21st last year at 70 percent. ... Cardinals SS Aledmys Diaz needs one more hit to join Albert Pujols as the franchise's only rookies to bang out 30 hits in April.