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Gant, Wong homer to lead Cardinals 6-4 over Nationals

The Cardinals built a 6-1 lead through six innings before the Nationals closed the gap with three runs in the eighth, including Bryce Harper's 30th homer of the year.
Credit: Jeff Curry, USA Today Sports; Joel Hulsey, KSDK
Photo: Jeff Curry, USA Today Sports; Joel Hulsey, KSDK

Any time a pitcher drives in more runs than he allows, it’s probably a safe bet that he has had a good night.

That certainly was the case for the Cardinals’ John Gant on Tuesday night, as he hit his first career home run – also his first hit in the major leagues – and allowed just one run over 5 1/3 innings to get the victory over the Nationals at Busch Stadium.

The Cardinals built a 6-1 lead through six innings before the Nationals closed the gap with three runs in the eighth, including Bryce Harper’s 30th homer of the year.

Gant’s homer was a two-run shot in the second inning after he had been hitless in his first 30 career at-bats, 20 of them this season.

On the mound, he retired 12 of the first 13 hitters be faced before giving up a run in the fifth.

The win was the seventh in a row for the Cardinals and improved their record to a season-best 10 games over .500. They are now four games behind the first-place Cubs in the NL Central Division and just one game behind the Phillies for the second wild-card playoff spot.

Here is how the game broke down:

At the plate: All six of the Cardinals’ RBIs came out of the bottom three hitters in the lineup. Harrison Bader had a sacrifice fly before Gant’s homer in the second and Kolten Wong doubled in two runs in the fourth, hit his eighth homer of the year in the sixth and singled in the eighth. Since July 1, Wong has posted a .341 average (29-of-85) … Paul DeJong’s double in the second was his eighth consecutive extra-base hit over the past seven games (four doubles, four homers) … Matt Carpenter drew a walk in the sixth inning to extend his streak of reaching base to 32 consecutive games.

On the mound: Combined with his previous start in Miami, Gant retired 21 consecutive batters (seven on Tuesday night) before Matt Wieters doubled with one out in the third inning. Gant then retired five more in a row, giving him a total of 26 batters retired over a stretch of 27 batters. He gave up three hits in the fifth, including an RBI single by Wieters … Chasen Shreve retired five of the six batters he faced in his 1 2/3 innings before Mike Mayers allowed the two-run homer to Harper and the Nationals scored another run I the eighth before Dakota Hudson ended the inning by striking out Matt Adams … Jordan Hicks pitched around a hit batter in the ninth to earn his fourth save.

Key stat: It was a month ago, on July 14, that the Cardinals fired manager Mike Matheny and named Mike Shildt the interim manager. The team has posted an 18-9 record since the change and cut 3 ½ games off the deficit in the division race. The last time the Cardinals were 10 games over .500 was on the final day of the 2016 season.

Worth noting: Yadier Molina started his 22nd consecutive game, tying the second longest streak of his career. He also started 22 games in a row in 2013. Molina’s only streak of more consecutive starts came in 2010, when he started 26 games in a row … Gant was 6-of-38 at the plate during his minor-league career, with the only extra-base hit a double coming last year for Memphis … As expected, the Cardinals activated Tyler O’Neill off the disabled list before the game and optioned Adolis Garcia to Memphis … Pitching prospect Ryan Helsley, who has been out since June 9 because of shoulder fatigue, has returned to Memphis from his rehab assignment in Florida and is expected to start a game later this week … DeJong said his walk-off homer Monday night was his first since he did It twice for Double A Springfield in 2016.

Looking ahead: Austin Gomber will get the start on Wednesday night.

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