Nats Fold Cards, 11-1; First Cuts Announced

A four-run 4th snapped a 1-1 tie as the Nats cruised to an 11-1 win over St. Louis on Sunday afternoon.

Stephen Strasburg gave up a run on two hits and two walks in his second outing, but also rolled a pair of twin-killings to minimize the damage as the staff ace went three innings total.

Matt Purke gave up a long double to the first batter he faced in the 4th and threw a wild pitch to move the runner over to 3rd but went DIY for a 1-5 DP to end the threat. The 23-y.o. southpaw dispatched St. Louis 1-2-3 in the 5th for two scoreless innings total for his first solid outing of the spring.

Christian Garcia also improved his footing by with his second clean inning of the spring, setting down the side on strikes in the 8th.

Here’s a rundown of how the notable minor-leaguers fared off the bench, as the Nats pounded out 15 hits total on the afternoon:

• Zach Walters replaced Ian Desmond at SS and went 0-for-2 with a walk
• Steve Souza pinch-ran for Jayson Werth and took over in RF, scoring twice and going 1-for-2 with a double
• Brian Goodwin subbed for Nate McLouth in LF and went 0-for-1 with a walk and a strikeout
• Eury Perez started in CF and was 0-for-3
• Michael Taylor followed Perez in CF and went 1-for-2

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Prior to the game, the first set of cuts were announced, as IF’s Matt Skole and Josh Johnson, C’s Jeff Howell and Brian Jeroloman, RHP Gabriel Alfaro and LHP Tyler Robertson were reassigned to minor-league camp. Patrick Reddington has the recap on manager Matt Williams’ thoughts for the first round of cuts. Johnson and Jeroloman were announced after the first four, but as multiple beat writers noted both are recovering from injuries, which is especially troubling as Jeroloman appears to be still suffering from the concussion he suffered from a home-plate collision that ended his 2013 season.