WASHINGTON — Kolten Wong homered and drove in the tiebreaking run with a double in the eighth inning to lift the St. Louis Cardinals to a 7-5 victory over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night.
Wong finished 3 for 4 with three RBIs. He had a two-run homer in the second inning and a single in the fourth.
Jon Jay drew a one-out walk off Blake Treinen (0-2) in the eighth and moved to third on Yadier Molina’s single. Wong then sliced a double down the left-field line, scoring Jay to break a 5-5 tie.
Matt Adams added a solo homer in the ninth off Rafael Martin to close the scoring.
Kevin Siegrist (1-0) pitched 1 1-3 scoreless innings and Trevor Rosenthal got the last three outs for his fifth save.
St. Louis won for the sixth time in seven games.
Wong also made two spectacular defensive plays at second base, ranging into short centre field to grab grounders and throw out Yunel Escobar to end the fifth and Wilson Ramos starting the sixth.
The Cardinals appeared headed for an easy night after taking a 5-0 lead in the third inning.
Matt Carpenter led off the game with a homer off Washington starter Doug Fister, and Wong added his two-run shot in the second. The Cardinals added two more in the third before Washington rallied to tie it.
The Nationals bounced back with five runs in the third, tying the game on Escobar’s three-run double with two outs off St. Louis starter John Lackey.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cardinals: OF Randal Grichuk is making progress toward a return. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said Wednesday that Grichuk is moving around well but have yet to talk about a rehab assignment. Grichuk went on the disabled list with a lower back strain last Friday.
Nationals: 3B Anthony Rendon (sprained left knee) played five innings in extended spring training on Wednesday and is coming back to Washington for a workout with the Nationals on Thursday. He’ll then head to Double-A Harrisburg to begin a rehab assignment on Friday. Manager Matt Williams said he wasn’t sure of a timeline for Rendon returning to the Nationals but they wanted to get him up to playing nine innings and a bunch of at-bats.
WELCOME TO THE BIG LEAGUES
Nationals left-hander Matt Grace made his major league debut in this game. Called up earlier in the day when LHP Felipe Rivero (intestinal bleed) went on the 15-day disabled list, Grace threw a scoreless seventh inning, walking one without giving up a hit while the teams were locked in a 5-5 tie.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Lackey made two errors on one play in the bottom of the fourth inning. Denard Span hit a grounder back to the box that Lackey fielded, then dropped and then threw wildly past first. However, the Nationals stranded Span at second.
UP NEXT
Cardinals RHP Michael Wacha (2-0, 1.35) has beaten the Reds in his first two starts, giving up a total of two runs while winning both times.
Nationals: RHP Max Scherzer (1-1, 0.83), a St. Louis native, is coming off a stellar eight-inning effort in a victory over the Phillies last Friday. He has already struck out 25 in 21 2/3 innings this season.
