Jacob Young hit a bases-loaded triple in the 10th inning to help the Washington Nationals secure a 10-8 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night.
Luis Garcia Jr. drove in three runs for the Nationals, who had lost their previous three games and were no-hit by San Diego’s Dylan Cease the day before.
“That was a grind. The boys hung in there,” said Nationals manager Dave Martinez. “We had some good at-bats late. From getting no-hit to scoring 10 runs, these guys fight it. They really do.”
Nolan Arenado hit a three-run homer, rookie Maysn Winn added a two-run homer and an RBI single, and Juan Yepez drove in two runs and matched his career high with three hits.
Jacob Barnes (6-2) earned the win by pitching the ninth inning, while Ryan Fernandez (1-3) took the loss after pitching the 10th.
With two outs, Garcia received an intentional walk, and Fernandez also walked rookie Trey Lipscomb.
Young hit a 2-0 pitch to right field that Dylan Carlson misjudged and couldn’t catch despite a last-second jump. It was Young’s first triple of the season. CJ Abrams added a single that drove in another run.
“I’m never bunting again,” Young joked about his bunt hit in the eighth inning, his eighth of the season. “He left a cutter up a little bit and I found some green grass. I saw him jump and then I saw the little white ball. It felt great to see the ball drop.”
This was the first triple in extra innings for the Nationals since Asdrubal Cabrera did it on July 29, 2020, at Toronto.
“You score eight against these guys, you got to be back to put them away,” said St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol. “It’s uncharacteristic for us to walk eight, one intentional. Seven free passes, that’s something we haven’t done all year.”
The Cardinals scored two runs in the ninth inning with two outs off Kyle Finnegan, the sixth Washington pitcher. Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run homer, which was his second hit of the game and gave him 2,000 hits for his career.
“It’s something I never thought I’d accomplish,” Goldschmidt said. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool. I had no idea how many hits I had. It’s not something that I was tracking.”
