WASHINGTON — On the night that Ryan Helsley’s consecutive save streak ended at 31 in a row, he got an acceptable substitute instead – a victory.
The Nationals scored a run off Helsley in the bottom of the 10th inning to tie the game against the Cardinals Friday night in Washington, D.C., but Helsley came back out for the 11th inning to finish off the victory.
Helsley’s blown save in the 10th, when the automatic run that scored is an unearned run, was his first of the year since his first game of the year, on March 30 in Los Angeles.
The Cardinals, who rallied from an early 5-0 deficit, scored the winning run in the top of the 11th on a passed ball that allowed Masyn Winn to score from third.
This was the Cardinals’ third consecutive extra-inning game, the first time that has happened since 2015. They are now a season-high five games over .500.
Here is how Friday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: Willson Contreras capped the 5-0 comeback with a home run in the ninth inning that tied the game. It was the Cardinals’ first game-tying home run in the ninth inning this season and their sixth overall in the inning, four coming from Nolan Gorman … Gorman had two RBI singles after coming off the bench, the first in the eighth inning and then driving the run home in the 10th … Nolan Arenado had his first four-hit game since Aug. 15, 2023, and also scored two runs … The Cardinals were just 4-of-16 with a runner in scoring position and left 11 runners on base … Winn scored the winning run as Contreras struck out, only to see the ball get past the catcher.
On the mound: The Nationals built the early lead off Sonny Gray, who allowed eight hits and walked one in his five innings of work … Four relievers were able to stop the Nationals scoring at that point, pitching around four hits and two walks, to get the game to the 10th … In the 10th, a fly ball off Helsley moved the automatic runner to third and he scored on a single but Helsley was able to get out of the inning when former Cardinal Juan Yepez lined into a double play … He went back out for the 11th to finish off the victory, essentially saving his own win – even if he didn’t get the credit for that – in his first outing of more than one inning this season.
Key stat: The Cardinals had been 1-35 this season when they trailed after eight innings.
Worth noting: Lars Nootbaar hit a home run during his rehab game in Springfield on Friday night. He is expected to play there again on Saturday night and then rejoin the Cardinals when they come home from Washington on Tuesday … Tommy Edman also was in Springfield and took batting practice off a live pitcher for the first time. He is scheduled to take BP again on Friday, off Riley O’Brien, and if all goes well he said he will begin a rehab assignment with Springfield on Tuesday night … Tink Hence, who had to come out of his last two starts for Springfield because of minor injuries, is not expected to pitch in the Futures Game next week as a precautionary measure … Jacob Bosiokovic, who had been called up from Memphis last week, was optioned to the Triple A club on Friday before he could appear in a game and make his major-league debut. Chris Roycroft was recalled to take his place in the bullpen.
Looking ahead: Lance Lynn will get the start on Saturday in the second game of the four-game series.
