St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Carlos Beltran belted two of four home runs
for the St. Louis Cardinals as the defending World Series champions evened
their National League Division Series with the Washington Nationals with a
12-4 Game 2 rout at Busch Stadium.
Allen Craig and Daniel Descalso also went deep to help the Cardinals rebound
from a 3-2 loss in Sunday's opener, in which the Nationals tallied twice in
the eighth inning to prevail. Beltran and Jon Jay each knocked in three runs
on two hits in the win, with Craig finishing 3-for-5 with two runs scored and
Descalso contributing a pair of RBI as part of a 2-for-4 performance.
Lance Lynn (1-0) was credited with the victory after striking out five in
three innings in relief of a laboring Jaime Garcia, despite surrendering back-
to-back solo homers to Ryan Zimmerman and Adam LaRoche in the fifth.
Garcia was removed by Cardinals manager Mike Matheny after throwing 51 pitches
and walking three batters while allowing a run in just two innings of work.
Zimmerman went 2-for-4 with two RBI and Mike Morse also collected two hits for
the NL East-winning Nationals, with starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann coming
through with an RBI single in a losing cause.
Zimmermann (1-1) wasn't as effective on the mound, lasting just three innings
while being tagged for five runs on seven hits.
Game 3 of this best-of-five set will take place Wednesday in Washington, with
veteran Chris Carpenter getting the call for St. Louis and ex-Cardinal Edwin
Jackson tabbed to start for the Nationals.
The Sports Network