ST. LOUIS — Jacob Young hit a bases-loaded triple in the 10th inning in the Washington Nationals’ 10-8 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night.
Luis Garcia Jr. drove in three runs for the Nationals, a day after they were no-hit by San Diego’s Dylan Cease for their third straight loss.
“That was a grind. The boys hung in there, ” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “We had some good at-bats late. From getting no-hit to scoring 10 runs, these guys fight it. They really do.”
Nolan Arenado hit a three-run homer, and rookie Maysn Winn hit a two-run homer and added an RBI single. Juan Yepez drove in two runs and tied his career high with three hits.
Jacob Barnes (6-2) worked the ninth for the victory. Ryan Fernandez (1-3) pitched the 10th and took the loss.
With two outs, Garcia drew an intentional walk, and Fernandez walked rookie Trey Lipscomb. Young lined a 2-0 pitch to right field that Dylan Carlson misjudged and then could not catch despite a last-second leap. It was Young’s first triple this season. CJ Abrams added a run-scoring single.
“I’m never bunting again,” laughed Young, who bunted for a hit — his eighth this season — in the eighth inning. “He left a cutter up a little bit and I found some green grass. I saw him jump and then I saw the little white ball. It felt great to see the ball drop.”
It was the first triple in extra innings for the Nationals since Asdrubal Cabrera did it July 29, 2020, at Toronto.
“You score eight against these guys, you got to be bacl to put them away,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said. “It’s uncharactistic for us to walk eight, one intentional. Seven free passes, that’s something we haven’t done all year.”
The Cardinals scored two runs in the ninth with two outs off Kyle Finnegan, the sixth Washington pitcher. Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run homer. It was his second hit in the game, giving him 2,000 for his career.
“It’s something I never thought I’d accomplish,” Goldschmidt said. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool. I had no idea how many hits I had. It’s not something that I was tracking.”
Sonny Gray lasted five innings, allowing five runs on seven hits in five innings. In his last five starts, he has allowed 24 runs (21 earned) on 39 hits in 28 1/3 innings.
“I’m just not putting up zeroes right now,” Gray said. “I know what I have to do. I just have to do it. I have to commit to doing it and I will.”
MacKenzie Gore also lasted five innings, giving up six runs on nine hits. In his last four starts, Gore has allowed 18 runs on 20 hits in 15 innings.
“Today wasn’t good but it was better,” Gore said. “I’m trying to figure this whole thing out and stop the bleeding here. Obviously, it wasn’t great today but we get it again in five days. We won the game.”
Washington tied it at 6 on a sacrifice fly by Yepez in the seventh.
After scoring just three runs in three games at Pittsburgh, St. Louis had five runs in the third inning. Winn hit a two-run homer and Arenado followed with a three-run shot that just cleared the fence inside the left field foul pole.
The Nationals added a run in the fourth, cutting it to 5-3 on Garcia’s one-out single.
Winn hit a run-scoring single in the fourth for St. Louis, but Washington pulled within a run with a two-run fifth. Yepez drove in CJ Abrams with a double, and Jesse Winker scored on a ground out by James Wood.
“It’s fun. We want to win games and see where this team can go,” said Yepez, a former Cardinal. “We were aggressive and trusted our talent.”
The Nationals jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second. Yepez led off with a single. After Keibert Ruiz hit a one-out single, Garcia drove both runners home with a double to right center.
TRANSACTIONS
Nationals: RHP Eduardo Salazar has been recalled from Triple-A Rochester for his second stint with the club this season. Salazar was claimed off waivers from the Seattle Mariners on June 13 after appearing in four games with Triple-A Tacoma.
TRAINERS ROOM
Nationals: RHP Jordan Weems placed on the 15-day Injured List on Friday with right shin splints (retroactive to July 25). Weems, 31, has appeared in 40 games for Washington this season.
Cardinals: CF/SS Tommy Edman (right wrist surgery, sprained ankle) will be in the lineup Saturday at Double-A Springfield as the designated hitter.
UP NEXT
Nationals RHP Jake Irvin (7-8, 3.44) was set to start Saturday against RHP Kyle Gibson (7-3, 3.99).
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