Nolan Gorman hit a homer and an RBI double to power the St. Louis Cardinals past the visiting Washington Nationals 4-1 Tuesday.
Brendan Donovan also homered for the Cardinals (80-56), who won for the eighth time in their last 10 games. The Nationals (48-88) lost for just the second time in their last seven games.
Cardinals starting pitcher Jose Quintana (5-6) allowed one run on five hits in five innings. He struck out five batters and walked nobody.
Jordan Hicks relieved Quintana and worked two scoreless innings. Giovanny Gallegos handled the eighth inning and Ryan Helsley closed out the game to earn his 14th save.
Nationals starting pitcher Paolo Espino (0-7) allowed three runs on seven hits in five innings. He struck out five batters and walked nobody.
Joey Meneses hit a one-out double for the Nationals in the first inning, but Quintana retired Luke Voit and Nelson Cruz on popouts to strand him in scoring position.
The Nationals took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Luis Garcia hit a double and scored on a single by Ildemaro Vargas. From there, Cardinals pitchers didn't allow another runner into scoring position until the ninth inning.
The Cardinals snapped a 12-inning scoreless streak by taking a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning. Donovan started the rally by leading off with his first homer since June 26.
With one out, Nolan Arenado hit a single, moved to third on Corey Dickerson's double, then scored on Tyler O'Neill's sacrifice fly. Gorman followed with an RBI double, breaking a slump that saw him go 1-for-12 with eight strikeouts in his previous six games.
Gorman's homer off reliever Steve Cishek in the seventh inning pushed the Cardinals' lead to 4-1.
Meneses greeted Helsley with a leadoff double in the ninth inning. Cruz drew a one-out walk, but Keibert Ruiz flew out and Garcia struck out to end the game.
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