Cardinals 4, Nationals 3
Carlos Beltran broke a tie with a two-run homer in the fifth inning as host St. Louis moved closer to winning the National League Central.
Yadier Molina and Shane Robinson also drove in runs for the Cardinals, who maintained their two-game lead over Pittsburgh and Cincinnati with five contests remaining. Adam Wainwright (18-9) yielded three runs and seven hits in seven-plus innings while Trevor Rosenthal recorded the final two outs in the ninth for his first career save.
Jayson Werth hit a two-run homer in the first for Washington, which was eliminated from postseason contention. Tanner Roark (7-1), who won his first three major-league starts, suffered his first loss after yielding four runs and nine hits in five innings.
Robinson tied it 2-2 in the fourth with a bloop single just inside the right-field line to drive in David Freese. Jon Jay led off the fifth with a single before Beltran belted a 3-1 fastball over the right-field wall for his 24th of the season - and first in 25 games - to give St. Louis a 4-2 lead.
The Nationals chased Wainwright by putting their first two runners aboard in the eighth before Denard Span advanced the runners with a sacrifice against Randy Choate. Carlos Martinez entered and retired Ryan Zimmerman on an RBI groundout and Werth on a grounder.
GAME NOTEBOOK: St. Louis LF Matt Holliday (back spasms), who is hitting .298 with 20 home runs and 91 RBIs, was scratched from the lineup 20 minutes before the game. He also missed Sunday's contest. ... St. Louis, which has already clinched a playoff berth, is one-half game behind Atlanta for the best record in the NL and 1 1/2 games clear of Los Angeles. ... Wainwright struck out five to give him 214 this season - a career high.