The Washington Nationals fought back Wednesday night, scoring five runs in a surging third inning to tie a game that appeared to slipping out of reach. But the St. Louis Cardinals proved they, too, are capable of retaliating, scoring a run apiece in the eighth and ninth to beat Washington, 7-5.
After climbing to .500 in walk-off fashion Tuesday, the Nationals fell back below the evening point Wednesday. They are 7-8, with a rubber game against the Cardinals looming Thursday.
THE RUNDOWN: Matt Carpenter hit a leadoff homer on Doug Fister’s seventh pitch of the game, and for a while, this one looked like it was going to be all Cardinals. They scored two more runs in the second and another pair in the third, grabbing a 5-0 lead before Washington had even gotten through its batting order. Then came the bottom of the third inning, which put the game back into balance. The Nationals stringed together three singles, beginning with a base hit from Fister, and then did most of their scoring with two outs. Bryce Harper walked to load the bases, Ryan Zimmerman reached on an infield single and Yunel Escobar ripped a bases-clearing double down the left field line to tie it at 5. It stayed that way until the eighth, when the Cardinals found some footing against Blake Treinen and reclaimed the lead. A Matt Adams solo homer in the ninth of Rafael Martin served as an insurance run.
THE HIGHLIGHT: Because of injuries and necessity, three relievers have made their major league debuts for the Nationals in the past seven days. But these moments just never get old. On Wednesday, it was Matt Grace’s turn. Grace, 26, was officially called up less than an hour before first-pitch, and the Nationals didn’t waste any time getting him into a game. After six tumultuous innings from Fister, the left-hander entered in the seventh to face the top of the Cardinals’ order. He walked Matt Holliday but retired three tough lefties — Matt Carpenter, Jason Heyward and Matt Adams — on groundball outs to get out of the inning. It was an impressive debut to follow an impressive spring for Grace, who now has a fantastic opportunity to entrench himself as the second lefty in the bullpen.
STAR OF THE GAME: Hard to give this to anyone but Kolten Wong. Generously listed at 5 feet 9, the Cardinals second baseman had a monster game Wednesday night. He hit his first homer of the season in the second inning, depositing a ball in the right field stands, then singled in the fourth and hit an RBI double in the eighth. He also made a pair of ridiculous defensive plays in consecutive at-bats to end the fifth inning and begin the sixth. On both plays, he snagged the ball while ranging to his right, leaped and zipped a throw to first base before his feet touched the ground. And on both plays, he made something difficult look pretty routine.
THE TAKEAWAY: Through the first month of the season, this much has become clear: The Nationals need reinforcements in the bullpen. If they’re lucky, those reinforcements will come in the form of players like Grace, who receive an opportunity at the big league level and run with it. Casey Janssen, too, will join the Nationals off the disabled list at some point. But even one or two players might not be enough. The Nationals have a growing list of question marks here, from Treinen, who has now had a number of rough outings in the past 10 days, to Martin, who struck out three batters Wednesday night but also surrendered two very well-struck hits. At this point, I feel obligated to remind everyone that it’s April. By no means is it time to panic. But this group, performing at this level, won’t cut it by season’s end. And it might take a move of some kind, at some point this season, to change that.
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• Tom Schad can be reached at tschad@washingtontimes.com.
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