Washington, DC (My Sportsbook) - Esteban Loaiza went seven-plus strong innings and Jose Guillen ended 2-for-3 with a triple and two runs scored to lift the
Washington Nationals past the
St. Louis Cardinals, 4-1, in the opener of a three-game set at RFK Stadium.
Loaiza (9-9) surrendered one run and just three hits while striking out seven batters and walking four. It was the third win in four starts for the 32-year- old righthander.
Chad Cordero picked up his major league-leading 41st save of the season by retiring St. Louis in order in the ninth.
Brad Wilkerson added a solo homer for the Nationals, who won for just the fourth time in 10 games.
David Eckstein had two of the three hits for the NL Central-leading Cardinals, who lost for the second time in five games.
Jeff Suppan (12-10) was dealt the loss after yielding four runs and eight hits in six innings of work.
The Nationals grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Wilkerson's 10th home run of the season.
Washington pushed its cushion to 3-0 in the fourth frame. Guillen reached on an infield single, moved to second on Preston Wilson's base hit up the middle and came home on another infield hit by Brian Schneider. Wilson would score later on a hit by Loaiza.
The lead grew to 4-0 in the fifth inning when Guillen tripled with one out and scored on Wilson's sacrifice fly.
The Cardinals finally reached the scoreboard with a run in the seventh inning. Jim Edmonds walked leading off, moved to second on a groundout and came home on So Taguchi's base hit.
Loaiza was pulled after walking John Rodriguez to start the eighth. Joey Eischen came out of the bullpen and retired Eckstein on a grounder before allowing Rodriguez to take second on a wild pitch. Larry Walker moved Rodriguez to third with a groundout, but Gary Majewski induced another grounder from Albert Pujols to end the threat.
Game Notes
Loaiza retired 12 straight batters at one point...The Cardinals fell to 40-23 on the road this season...This was the Cardinals' first regular-season game in Washington, D.C. since 1899.
