Keibert Ruiz hit a three-run home run to finish Washington’s seven-run rally in the sixth inning, leading the Nationals to a 14-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday night.
After struggling to score with the bases loaded in the previous two innings, the Nationals finally took control of the game when Cardinals reliever Chris Roycroft walked three out of the four batters he faced.
Harold Ramírez, who came off the bench, hit a two-run double, and Juan Yepez added a two-run single before Ruiz’s home run into the left-field bullpen made it 9-0.
“We have to get the ball in the (strike) zone, especially with guys on base,” Nationals manager Davey Martinez said. “We talk all the time: The pressure’s on the pitcher when you’ve got guys in scoring position. Don’t put the pressure on yourself. Get the ball in the zone. And we started doing a better job with that later.”
James Wood had four of Washington’s 16 hits and scored on Luis García Jr.’s RBI single in the second inning. Yepez had two hits and three RBIs, and Jesse Winker had two singles. During the game, Winker found out he had been traded to the New York Mets.
“I was kind of being picky with what I was trying to attack, and I was able to get pitches where I was able to do that,” said Wood, who made his major league debut on July 1 and hadn’t had more than two hits in any of his first 21 games.
“It’s fun. I see a lot of growth in our young players, and they care,” Martinez said.
Jake Irvin (8-8) struck out five in 5 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on Willson Contreras’ home run in the sixth. Contreras had a brief scare in the fourth inning when Ruiz fouled a ball off his left arm, which was broken earlier in the season when Contreras was hit by a bat.
St. Louis has now lost three games in a row and has dropped nine of its last 14 games, falling out of a wild-card position. The game was delayed by more than two hours due to rain.
