ST. LOUIS — On a night when the Reds finally helped out the Cardinals by beating the Cubs, the Cardinals could not help themselves.
The team struggled, again, to come through with hits when they had runners in scoring position and lost to the Nationals on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium, remaining two games ahead of the Cubs, who lost to the Reds, snapping their five-game winning streak.
The Cardinals lost a game in the standings to the Brewers, however, who won again and are now tied with the Cubs for second place in the NL Central with 11 games to go in the regular season.
Both of the Cardinals runs scored on errors by the Nationals.
Here is how the game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals managed just six hits, struck out 14 times and were hitless in nine at-bats with runners on second or third … For the last four games they now have just two hits in 27 at-bats with runners in scoring position, both by Marcell Ozuna on Monday night … Their only runs scored on a fielding error by Trea Turner on what should have been the third out in the third and on a throwing error by Yan Gomes in the sixth … Harrison Bader struck out three times and all of the starters except Dexter Fowler and Miles Mikolas struck out at least once.
On the mound: The Nationals scored three runs off Mikolas, including a solo homer by Howie Kendrick on an 0-2 pitch in the fourth. It was the 26th homer allowed by Mikolas, tying him with Michael Wacha for the most allowed by a Cardinals pitcher this season … The Nationals added to their lead with two runs in the eighth when John Gant allowed a hit and a walk to the only two hitters he faced and Ryan Helsley gave up back-to-back hits that brought in the two runs … The final Washington run scored off Genesis Cabrera in the ninth.
Key stat: The 11 strikeouts by Patrick Corbin tied for the second-most in a game by a left-handed pitcher against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium 3 since it opened in 2006. Matthew Boyd and Clayton Kershaw previously had 11 strikeout games, while Kershaw has the most all-time with a 13-strikeout game in 2014.
Worth noting: The Cardinals announced that former manager Whitey Herzog, 87, suffered a “minor” stroke on Monday during his annual charity golf tournament. A statement from the team said Herzog had received treatment, was resting and “doing well.” … The Nationals pulled off two double steals in the game, the first time the Cardinals have allowed four stolen bases in a game since 2016, when Billy Hamilton of the Reds had three of them. Opponents had just four combined stolen bases against the Cardinals in their previous 34 games, dating back to Aug. 13 … Tickets for a potential wild-card playoff game at Busch Stadium and the Division Series will go on sale at noon Thursday on cardinals.com and by phone at 314-345-9000. Details for tickets for a possible tiebreaker game and the NL Championship Series and World Series will be announced later, the team said.
Looking ahead: Adam Wainwright will get the start in Wednesday’s 12:15 p.m. game against St. Louis native Max Scherzer.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
