WASHINGTON - Adam Wainwright threw a two-hitter Thursday night for his seventh career shutout, chipped in at the plate with a double and single, and St. Louis benefited from four Washington errors in the Cardinals’ 8-0 victory.
Wainwright (3-1) allowed Ian Desmond’s infield single in the second inning and Adam LaRoche’s single to right in the ninth. He struck out eight and walked three. During one stretch, the runner-up for the 2013 NL Cy Young award retired 18 consecutive batters.
It was the right-hander’s 17th complete game and his fourth two-hitter.
Desmond, Washington’s shortstop, made a pair of errors, raising his season total to seven. The Nationals have 20 through 16 games, an average of 1.25.
Wainwright threw 110 pitches and finished the game by striking out Desmond.
Taylor Jordan (0-1) gave up 7 runs, 5 earned, in 5 1/3 innings.
Matt Adams drove in three runs, Matt Holliday two, and the Cardinals finished with 14 hits. All nine members of the starting lineup had at least one hit.
St. Louis has won eight in a row against Washington, dating to Game 5 of the 2012 National League division series.
So far this season, the Nationals have beaten weaker opponents, going a combined 8-1 against the Mets and Marlins, and struggled against better teams, going 1-6 against the Braves and Cardinals.
“If you don’t play well against these guys, you’re probably going to get beat,” Nationals Manager Matt Williams said before Thursday’s game. “We understand that we have to play the game right and play it well to have a chance to win.”
PHILLIES 1, BRAVES 0 Ben Revere’s RBI single with two outs in the eighth inning lifted host Philadelphia to a victory over Atlanta. A.J. Burnett(North Little Rock, Central Arkansas Christian) allowed three hits over seven innings to out pitch Alex Wood.
ROCKIES 3, PADRES 1 Franklin Morales allowed four hits in six innings and Wilin Rosario hit a tie breaking ground out in a three-run seventh, lifting visiting Colorado over San Diego.
DODGERS 2, GIANTS 1 Hyun-Jin Ryu stretched his road scoreless streak to 26 innings this season and 28 in all, and Los Angeles beat host San Francisco on Thursday to avoid a sweep.
PIRATES 11, BREWERS 2 Andrew McCutchen hit his first home run of the season and drove in three runs, Pedro Alvarez had a three-run shot and pinch-hitter Josh Harrison broke a tie with a home run in the seventh as host Pittsburgh defeated Milwaukee.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
RANGERS 8, MARINERS 6 Kevin Kouzmanoff delivered again, doubling twice and scoring two runs as Texas beat visiting Seattle. Kouzmanoff, 32, is hitting .414 since joining the Rangers on April 9 after starting third baseman Adrian Beltre strained his left quadriceps. Robinson Cano homered for the Mariners.
TIGERS 7, INDIANS 5 Ian Kinsler homered and drove in four runs, and Detroit held on for a victory over visiting Cleveland. Justin Verlander (2-1) allowed three unearned runs in five innings, and the Tigers trailed 3-1 before Kinsler’s three run home run in the fifth off Danny Salazar (0-2).
TWINS 7-9, BLUE JAYS 0-5 Host Minnesota scored three consecutive runs on wild pitches by Toronto’s Sergio Santos in the eighth inning, when the Twins walked eight times off three relievers in rallying for a victory and a sweep of a day-night doubleheader. Kyle Gibson pitched a career-high eight scoreless innings for Minnesota in the opener.
YANKEES 10, RAYS 2 CC Sabathia pitched seven innings for a rare victory at Tropicana Field, leading New York past David Price and Tampa Bay in a match up of former AL Cy Young Award winners.
RED SOX 3, WHITE SOX 1 Jon Lester pitched eight sharp innings and David Ross hit a tie breaking RBI double in the ninth, leading visiting Boston to a victory over Chicago.
ROYALS 5, ASTROS 1 James Shields struck out 12 in eight innings and the Kansas City Royals completed a three-game sweep of host Houston. Shields (1-2) gave up one run and four hits.
Thursday’s games
NATIONAL LEAGUE Philadelphia 1, Atlanta 0 LA Dodgers 2, San Francisco 1 Colorado 3, San Diego 1 Pittsburgh 11, Milwaukee 2 St. Louis 8, Washington 0
AMERICAN LEAGUE Detroit 7, Cleveland 5 Minnesota 7-9, Toronto 0-5 Texas 8, Seattle 6 NY Yankees 10, Tampa Bay 2 Boston 3, Chicago White Sox 1 Kansas City 5, Houston 1
Sports, Pages 22 on 04/18/2014