Recap: Nationals Fall Back To .500 In 6-4 Loss To Cardinals
The Washington Nationals were defeated by the St. Louis Cardinals by a score of 6-4 on August 14th, 2018. Now, the Cardinals lead the series 2-0, after a 7-6 walkoff win over the Nats on August 13th. The Nats record currently stands at 60-60, while St. Louis’ record is now moved to 65-55.
To recap, Nats starting pitcher, Gio Gonzalez, pitched for 4 innings, gave up 5 hits, let up 5 earned runs, walked 3 batters, struck out 2 opposing hitters, and ended up taking the loss in tonight’s game. The statistics brought Gonzalez’s ERA to 4.12. Moreover, in the bottom of the 2nd, Harrison Bader, of the Cardinals, launched a sacrifice fly to left field which eventually led to Paul DeJong scoring to make it a 1-0 ballgame in favor of St Louis. Immediately after, pitcher, John Gant, homered to left field for a two RBI long ball to make the score 3-0 in the bottom of the 2nd. Afterward, in the bottom of the 4th, Kolten Wong of the Cardinals, doubled to score Jedd Gyorko and Harrison Bader to make the score 5-0 with St. Louis on top. Soon after, in the top of the 5th, Matt Wieters of the Nats singled to score Juan Soto which made it 5-1 with the Cardinals holding the lead. Then, in the bottom of the 6th, Kolten Wong launched a long home run to right field to make the score 6-1 with the Cardinals rolling. Lastly, Bryce Harper homered for the 30th time of the season for the Nats, which made the score 6-2 in the top of the 8th. However, the Cardinal pitching was strong and they prevailed as Jordan Hicks recorded the save.
Overall, this was yet another frustrating game for the Nats, as the late Harper home run was simply not enough to muster a comeback. Next, the Nats will look to regain momentum as they take on the Cardinals on August 15th. The pitching matchup is scheduled to be RHP Jeremy Hellickson(5-2, 3.54 ERA) facing off against LHP Austin Gomber(2-0, 3.45 ERA).
