The Cards scored all six runs against the ‘pen to hand the Nats their second straight loss, 6-1.
After two scoreless innings from Anibal Sanchez and one from Sean Doolittle, St. Louis went to town on Tanner Rainey in the 4th with four runs on four hits and a walk in the space of just seven batters as the Cards erased the Nats first (and only) run to take a 4-1 lead.
After Trevor Rosenthal, Kyle Barraclough, and Matt Grace settled things down with a scoreless inning apiece, Ronald Pena broke the string with two runs allowed on two hits and two walks to put the game on ice for St. Louis.
It was a light afternoon for the watchlisters. None were in the starting the lineup and just three came off the bench:
• Jake Noll took over 1B from Matt Adams and went 0-for-1 with a walk.
• Luis Garcia was the second 2B and got his first hit of the spring while going 1-for-2.
• Jose “Orange” Marmolejos pinch-hit for DH Howie Kendrick but went hitless for the fourth time in four games with an 0-for-2 afternoon.
Washington remains in West Palm Beach this afternoon to play Houston. The game can be seen and heard on MLB.tv and MLB Audio (Astros feed for both).