Kyle Schwarber doubled home a run in his delayed Nationals debut, Andrew Stevenson had a pinch-hit homer and Washington beat the St. Louis Cardinals
5-2 Monday night. The Nats ended a five-game skid, while the Cardinals lost their third straight.
Schwarber, Josh Bell and Josh Harrison were in the starting lineup after being sidelined for Washington’s first six games by a coronavirus outbreak.
John Gant (0-1) went five innings and gave up three runs. He allowed six hits, struck out four and walked three. Kyle Finnegan (1-0) pitched 1 1/3 innings, giving up a run on one hit. He struck out two. Matt Carpenter ended an 0-for-12 start to the season with a bunt single in the third.
The Cardinals are in third place in the NL Central, 2 games behind the first place Reds, Milwaukee is in second, 1 game out, the Cubs are in fourth place, 3 games out.
St. Louis is closer to having two of its starting pitchers back from the injured list. LHP Kwang Hyun Kim (back tightness) threw 86 pitches Sunday, and manager Mike Schildt said everything looked good for him to get back to the club soon, though he didn’t give a timeline. Shildt also said the progress of RHP Miles Mikolas (shoulder stiffness) is on target. Mikolas threw a bullpen Monday at Busch Stadium. He’ll throw another in a few days, after which the Cardinals will determine if he’s ready to face hitters.
Cardinals RHP Jack Flaherty (1-0, 5.23 ERA) gets his third start of the season tonight, 5:50 with the pregame and the first pitch at 6:45 on KIRX.