Jordan Walker homered again, Alec Burleson drove in three runs and notched three hits and starting pitcher Michael McGreevy retired the final 10 batters he faced as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the host Washington Nationals 6-1 on Wednesday.
Walker hit his fifth home run of the season and three St. Louis relievers completed what became a combined four-hitter. McGreevy (1-1) worked six innings, yielding one run on four hits without a walk.
Walker moved into a share of the big-league lead for homers after smashing a long ball for the fourth time in a five-game stretch.
The Nationals, who’ve lost seven of their last eight games, never led. They completed a 1-5 homestand.
Starting pitcher Miles Mikolas (0-3) took the loss, allowing two runs on five hits with three walks in three innings.
Washington’s James Wood went 2 for 4 to join Burleson as the only players in the game with more than one hit.
Matt Svanson, Justin Bruihl and Riley O’Brien pitched in relief for St. Louis.
The Cardinals, who stranded nine runners, struck first on Burleson’s two-run, two-out single in the second inning.
Washington scored its run in the third on Luis Garcia Jr.’s fielder’s choice grounder for the second out. He was the last batter before McGreevy began his stretch of notching outs on the Nationals’ next 10 batters.
Walker’s solo homer came with one out in the fifth off Brad Lord.
The Cardinals began the seventh with back-to-back walks and then scored on Burleson’s single. But a strikeout and a double-play grounder allowed the Nationals to escape without additional damage.
St. Louis tacked on two runs in the ninth. After Walker walked to load the bases with two outs, Yohel Pozo delivered a two-run single.
The teams split the first two games of the series, with the Cardinals claiming Tuesday’s 7-6 decision in 10 innings.
