This game was all the Nationals until Tanner Roark hit the wall and gave up 3-runs (2 earned) in the 6th inning to make the 5-1 lead a 5-4 tight ballgame. The bullpen shut the door between Justin Miller (2 innings for the hold) and Koda Glover (save) to preserve this win. Guess what? This was also a rare one-run win for the Nats!
“I’m back baby — I’m back,” Koda Glover said. “I got the job done. Ninth inning is a different animal. That’s when you win and lose games.”
The Nationals had baserunners all night, but stranded too many runners in what could have been a blow-out game. Between Adam Eaton, Juan Soto, Ryan Zimmerman and Matt Wieters, they were a combined for an 0-16 with too many stranded runners while the rest of the Nats combined for 10-hits including 2-hits by starter Tanner Roark.
The offensive star was Bryce Harper who went 3-5 with 3 RBIs but was stranded on the bases all 3 times. Harper raised his batting average to .243 and will certainly be a 3.0 WAR tomorrow. Harper has really boosted his stock value.
In his last start, Roark was allowed to pitch deeper in a blow-out game and finished with 117 pitches and he looked stiff tonight and pitched to contact for his entire 6-innings except for his 1 strikeout. The Nats played defense behind him except for a costly throwing error by Anthony Rendon in the 6th inning. Rendon was off-target with a few throws tonight. The Cardinals had 3 errors in the game turned out to be the difference in the final score.
“We needed a win today,” manager Dave Martinez said. “Get on that plane like I said and have a nice happy flight. Come back tomorrow — be at home and get ready for tomorrow. ”
With this win, the Nats ended the Cardinals 8-game winning streak. On this night, the Nats kept their lead and are now 8.0 games back in the NL East and back to .500 with a happy flight back to D.C.
