Nationals 6, Cardinals 1
ST. LOUIS -- It took just over three hours to play Saturday's game, but roughly about 10 minutes to decide it.
Scoring four runs in the top of the first, the Washington Nationals rolled to a 6-1 win over the sloppy St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
Joe Ross (3-0) worked six solid innings for the victory, scattering six hits and allowing a run while walking two and fanning four.
Three relievers finished up as Washington (16-7) scored a rare series win in St. Louis, where it is 9-26 since moving from Montreal before the 2005 season.
Jaime Garcia (1-2) absorbed the loss, working 6 1/3 innings and yielding four runs on four hits and three walks. He struck out six.
Garcia couldn't command his fastball in the first and the Nationals capitalized, scoring all their runs with two out.
Daniel Murphy lined a single into center field to score Anthony Rendon and Jayson Werth powered a 2-and-1 changeup into the seats in left field for a three-run home run, his fourth of the season.
Garcia permitted only one more hit before departing after Ross' grounder was botched by shortstop Ruben Tejada for one of three Cardinals errors.
Center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker committed the other two miscues, a throwing error in the first after Murphy's hit and a fielding error in the eighth after another Murphy single that allowed a run to score.
St. Louis pitchers hurt themselves as well, combining to issue five walks and hit two batters as it fell to 12-12 with its third straight loss.
The Cardinals had a chance for a big inning in the fifth when they loaded the bases with one out for the 2-3 hitters in their lineup. Matt Carpenter lined a sacrifice fly to center field to cut the deficit to 4-1, but Matt Holliday bounced the first pitch he saw to shortstop Danny Espinosa for an inning-ending fielder's choice.
Washington capped the scoring with two runs in the eighth, including a sacrifice fly by Werth to give him four RBIs for the day.
NOTES: St. Louis third base coach Jose Oquendo will need knee replacement surgery next month, meaning he won't be able to join the coaching staff this season. Oquendo has been part of the team's coaching staff since 1999. ... Washington's 15-7 start is its best since the franchise moved from Montreal following the 2004 season. ... Cardinals SS Jhonny Peralta (left thumb) has started light fielding drills and hopes to go out on a rehab assignment in three weeks. Peralta was injured in spring training.