Cardinals Rebound Against Nats, Kolten Wong Shines

Clearly, the Cardinals were still a little bitter over Tuesday’s extra-inning loss to the Washington Nationals.

Matt Carpenter, who has been absolutely on fire the last handful of games, got the party started with a leadoff home run off of Nationals pitcher Doug Fister. Things escalated for the Cardinal offense from there. Kolten Wong hit a homer of his own in the second that scored Yadier Molina to make it 3-0 Cardinals.

First baseman Matt Adams got in on the fun in the third with a double that scored Jason Heyward, then a Jhonny Peralta walk set up an RBI infield single by Jon Jay. When all was said and done, the Cardinals had tagged Fister for five runs and a big lead in three innings.

The Nationals weren’t going to give up that easily though, as they clobbered Cardinal pitcher John Lackey for five runs of their own in the bottom of the third. Just like that it was a new ballgame, and both pitchers cruised until their respective removals from the game, Lackey midway through the sixth and Fister after a full six.

Of course, Lackey got a few nice defensive plays from Wong along the way as well. Wong struck again in the eighth, smacking a double down the left-field line to score Jay, and the Cardinals would be up for good. Adams just wanted to be sure though, so he smoked a ball into the stands in the top of the ninth, and Trevor Rosenthal slammed the door in the bottom of the inning, securing the Cardinal win as well as his fifth save.

Kolten Wong did it all tonight, here’s your fix:

Players of the Game:

Matt Carpenter 1-for-3, leadoff homerun

Kolten Wong 3-for-4, homerun, go-ahead double, three RBI, a couple defensive gems.

Of Note: Jason Heyward continues to struggle, as the rightfielder went 1-for-5 with two strikeouts; his season average is now .196

Matt Holliday was hitless in a game for the first time this season.

Cardinal prospect Marco Gonzales was placed on the minor-league disabled list today

Up Next:

Series Finale Thursday: Michael Wacha (2-0 1.35 ERA) vs Max Scherzer (1-1 0.83 ERA)

First Pitch 3:05