Nationals 6, Cardinals 1
ST. LOUIS -- The Washington Nationals cracked open a classic pitcher's duel in the sixth inning Sunday and played add-on from there for their first-ever road sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals since moving from Montreal following the 2004 season.
St. Louis native Max Scherzer fired seven shutout innings while Clint Robinson and Danny Espinosa cracked back-to-back homers in the seventh as Washington stopped the Cardinals 6-1 at Busch Stadium.
Scherzer (3-1) never allowed a runner into scoring position, yielding only four hits and walking none while fanning nine as he garnered his first win in three career starts in St. Louis.
Carlos Martinez (4-1) matched Scherzer pitch-for-pitch until Matt den Dekker delivered a first-pitch RBI single with one out in the sixth, scoring Jose Lobaton to break a scoreless tie.
It fell apart for Martinez in the seventh. After a one-out single by Jayson Werth, Robinson ambushed a first-pitch fastball, ripping it 419 feet into the right-center field bleachers for his first homer and second hit in 22 at-bats this year.
Espinosa followed with a first-pitch homer of his own, his second of the year and series. It traveled 420 feet just to the left of Robinson's clout.
Martinez departed two batters later after allowing Scherzer's second single of the day. Martinez went 6 2/3 innings, permitting seven hits and four runs with no walks and eight strikeouts.
It was the fourth straight loss for the Cardinals (12-13), who dropped to 5-7 at home and 1-8 against teams with winning records (Pittsburgh, Chicago Cubs, Washington).
Daniel Murphy tacked on an RBI double in the eighth and pinch hitter Chris Heisey belted a two-out solo homer in the ninth to cap the scoring for the Nationals (17-7).
Brandon Moss' two-out solo homer in the ninth enabled St. Louis to avert a shutout. The ball was originally ruled in play, but was changed to a homer after a crew chief's review.
NOTES: St. Louis C Brayan Pena (left knee) has been working out on an antigravity treadmill, but is still at least two weeks away from making more strides in rehab. Pena was injured late in spring training. ... Washington RHP Joe Ross had a scoreless inning streak of 20 1/3 innings stopped in the fifth inning Saturday. ... Cardinals SS Jhonny Peralta (left thumb) took grounders Sunday as well as controlled swings. Peralta is said to be about three weeks away from starting a rehab assignment.