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, one day after being hit by San Diego’s Dylan Cease for the third consecutive loss.
“That was a bummer. The boys hung in there,” Nationals coach Dave Martinez said. “We had some good hits late. From not hitting to scoring 10 runs, these guys struggle with it. They really want it.
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 win. 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 hit a 2-0 pitch to right field that Dylan Carlson misjudged and failed to catch despite a last-second jumper. It was Young’s first triple this season. CJ Abrams added a run-scoring single.
“I’m never bunting again,” laughed Young, who fought for a hit — his eighth this season — in the eighth inning. “He left a mower up a little and I found some green grass. I saw him jump and then I saw the little white ball. It was great to see the ball drop.”
It was the first triple in extra innings for the Nationals since Asdrubal Cabrera did it on July 29, 2020, in Toronto.
“You score eight against these guys, you have to have guts to put them out,” St. Louis coach Oliver Marmol said. “It is not characteristic of 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 from Kyle Finnegan, Washington’s sixth pitcher. Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run homer. It was his second hit of the game, giving him 2,000 for his career.
“It’s something I never thought I would achieve,” Goldschmidt said. “Yes, it’s really cool. I had no idea how many hits I had. It’s not something 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 zeros in right now,” Gray said. “I know what I have to do. I just have to do it. I have to commit to doing this 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 understand all of this and stop the bleeding here. Obviously it wasn’t great today, but we will have it again in five days. We won the game.”
Washington tied it at 6 on a Yepez sacrifice fly 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 sailed over the fence inside the left field foul pole.
The Nationals added a run in the fourth, cutting it to 5-3 on Garcia’s only out.
Winn hit a run-scoring single in the fourth for St. Louis, but Washington got within one run with a two-run fifth. Yepez hit CJ Abrams with a double, and Jesse Winker scored on a hit by James Wood.
“It’s fun. We want to win games and see how far 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 started with a single. After Keibert Ruiz hit a single, Garcia drove both runners home with a double to right center.
TRANSACTIONS
Nationals: RHP Eduardo Salazar was called up from Triple-A Rochester for his second stint with the club this season. Salazar was claimed off waivers by the Seattle Mariners on June 13 after appearing in four games with Triple-A Tacoma.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Nationals: RHP Jordan Weems was placed on the 15-day injured list on Friday with right shin soreness (retroactive to July 25). Weems, 31, played 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 a designated hitter.
NEXT
Nationals RHP Jake Irvin (7-8, 3.44) was scheduled to start Saturday against RHP Kyle Gibson (7-3, 3.99).
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