ST. LOUIS — Lane Thomas’ single broke a tie in the 10th inning and the Washington Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-5 in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday.
Thomas’ single scored Alex Call to break a 5-5 tie. CJ Abrams scored an insurance run on a double play for the Nationals in the game that was resumed after rain halted play Friday night in the third inning.
Kyle Finnegan (4-3) earned the decision with two innings of relief. Hunter Harvey earned his ninth save in 14 opportunities.
Jordan Hicks (1-6) took the loss for the Cardinals.
The Nationals broke a 1-1 tie with three runs scored without a hit in the fifth inning. A pair of Andre Pallante walks set up the rally and Dominic Smith scored on a fielder’s choice after advancing to third on a Pallante wild pitch. Willson Contreras had two throwing errors, the second of which allowed Luis García to score, and Nolan Arenado’s throwing error — the third St. Louis miscue of the frame — allowed Abrams to score to make it 4-1.
A Joey Meneses RBI single off Pallante evened the game in the fourth when it resumed. Meneses added an RBI double in the eighth.
Brendan Donovan drew the Cardinals even with a three-run homer off Corey Abbott in the bottom of the fifth. Contreras tied the game at 5-5 with a solo homer off Kyle Finnegan in the eighth.
The Cardinals jumped out to a 1-0 lead Friday night when Lars Nootbaar homered in the first inning off Trevor Williams.
St. Louis starter Miles Mikolas had retired all nine Washington batters he faced before the game was halted with Paul Goldschmidt at the plate with a 3-2 count and two outs in the third.
The game was suspended after a delay of approximately 90 minutes.
The Cardinals will start left-hander Steven Matz (0-7, 4.65 ERA) in the second game of the doubleheader Saturday night. The Nationals will counter with right-hander Jake Irvin (2-5, 4.60 ERA).
TRAINER’S ROOM
Nationals: 3B Jeimer Candelario left the game in the first inning with a bone bruise on his right thumb.
Cardinals: OF Tyler O’Neill (left lower back strain) is playing three-straight games at Triple-A Memphis and could return next week.
UP NEXT
The Cardinals will start RHP Jack Flaherty (6-5, 4.27 ERA) against the Nationals and RHP Josiah Gray (6-7, 3.41 ERA) in the finale of their three-game series on Sunday. Flaherty has not given up a run in his last two starts spanning 12 2/3 total innings. Gray tossed a scoreless third inning in the All-Star game on Tuesday and has a 2.20 ERA and 20 strikeouts in his last three starts.
