Cardinals’ Adams homers twice in win over Nationals

[September 06, 2018]  Matt Adams homered twice, including a three-run shot in the first inning, and drove in four runs as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Washington Nationals 7-6 Wednesday night at Nationals Park.

Yairo Munoz added a solo homer later as the Cardinals finished with three home runs. St. Louis banged out eight homers in the past two games, hitting five in Tuesday's victory.

Adams hit both homers off Washington starter Tanner Roark (8-15), who labored through five innings, allowing six runs on 10 hits. The right-hander threw 111 pitches and has dropped three straight decisions after winning five in a row.

St. Louis' offensive power helped starter Miles Mikolas (14-4) on a night where the Nationals cut an early 7-1 deficit to just one -- but the Cardinals held on. Mikolas gave up four runs and scattered 12 hits through 6 2/3 innings.

Carlos Martinez took care of the final two innings and earned his first save this season, which also was his first since 2014 as he's been a starter most of his career.

The Cardinals took the lead just three batters into the game. Matt Carpenter led off with a single, and Jose Martinez followed with another single. Adams came up next and belted a three-run shot to right-center for that early 3-0 lead.

St. Louis added two more in the second with some help again from Carpenter and Martinez. Carpenter had an RBI double while Martinez made it 5-0 with a run-scoring single.

Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams (15) hits a three run home run in the first inning off Washington Nationals starting pitcher Tanner Roark (not pictured) at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Adams then struck for the second time with a solo homer off Roark in the top of the fifth. Adam Eaton gave Washington its first run with an RBI double in the bottom half before Munoz made it 7-1 with a solo homer in the sixth.

Wilmer Difo got an RBI double in the sixth that cut the Cardinals' lead to 7-2 and started the Washington comeback.

One inning later, the Nationals' Ryan Zimmerman drove in three with a double off Dakota Hudson, and Difo added an RBI single that made it 7-6. The Nationals put runners on first and second with no outs in the ninth but Martinez escaped the jam.

The Nationals took care of one piece of the future business before the game when general manager Mike Rizzo told the media that manager Dave Martinez will return next season.

--Field Level Media

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