ST. LOUIS – Bryce Harper homered twice against Carlos Martinez, Max Scherzer struck out 12 over seven scoreless innings and the Washington Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 on Sunday night.
Harper also doubled and had four RBIs to pace Washington, which snapped a three-game skid and had lost five of seven.
The Cardinals had won four straight and six of seven overall, including series victories over the Arizona Diamondbacks and Nationals.
Scherzer (10-5) allowed two hits and two walks while lowering his major league-leading ERA to 1.94. Scherzer’s double-digit strikeout performance was his 10th this season and 59th of his career.
Martinez (6-7) entered the game ranked fourth in the NL in ERA but allowed five runs in five innings. The right-hander had allowed five earned runs over his previous four starts combined.
The Nationals, who scored two runs over the first two games of the series, scored twice in the first inning, with Brian Goodwin leading off with a ground-rule double and scoring on Harper’s 19th home run of the season.
Harper made it 4-0 in the third, driving an 0-2 changeup below the strike zone into the Cardinals’ bullpen. Daniel Murphy followed with a walk, and Anthony Rendon smacked an RBI double to the left-center wall to make it 5-0.
Wilmer Difo and Goodwin added sacrifice flies in the eighth to push Washington’s lead to 7-0.
Tommy Pham’s two-run homer in the eighth, his 10th of the season, off reliever Enny Romero got the Cardinals on the scoreboard.
STREAK OVER
Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina’s 16-game hit streak, which tied his career long, came to an end with an 0-for-4 performance.
TRANSACTIONS
The Cardinals announced two trades Sunday, sending international cap space to the Red Sox for minor league infielders Stanley Espinal and Imeldo Diaz and to the Blue Jays for minor league outfielder Lane Thomas.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cardinals: LHP Kevin Siegrist (cervical spine sprain) threw off flat ground on Saturday.
UP NEXT
Nationals: RHP Stephen Strasburg (9-2, 3.51 ERA) opens a three-game home series against the Mets on Monday night. He is 8-4 with a 2.69 ERA in 14 career starts against the Mets.
Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (8-5, 5.17 ERA) opens a four-game series against the visiting Marlins on Monday night. He is 5-1 with a 2.64 ERA in eight home starts this season.
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