Nolan Gorman, Paul Goldschmidt blast homers in Cardinals win vs. Nationals

Nolan Gorman had a homer, two runs and two RBIs as the St. Louis Cardinals rolled past the visiting Washington Nationals 8-4 Sunday.

Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run homer for the Cardinals, who won two of three games for their second straight series win.

Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty (7-5) allowed three runs on three hits and three walks. He struck out seven.

Starter Josiah Gray (6-8) allowed four runs on 10 hits in five innings for the Nationals, who got two RBIs each from Dominic Smith and Keibert Ruiz.

Ruiz's second-inning homer put Washington up 1-0.

The Cardinals threatened in the bottom of the second inning when Alec Burleson hit a single and Paul DeJong sent him to third with a one-out single. But Gray got the next two hitters to strand the runners.

They threatened again in the third inning when Goldschmidt hit a single and Lars Nootbaar walked. Both advanced on a flyout, but once again Gray escaped by retiring the next two batters.

The Cardinals rallied for a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning. Gorman, DeJong, Andrew Knizner and Brendan Donovan hit singles to produce two runs, then Nootbaar hit an RBI single.

Gorman's homer in the fifth inning expanded the Cardinals' lead to 4-1.

The Nationals cut their deficit to 4-3 in the sixth inning. CJ Abrams hit a one-out triple, Lane Thomas walked, and Smith hit a two-out, two-run double. Ruiz walked as Smith advanced on a wild pitch, but Flaherty dodged further trouble.

The Cardinals pushed their lead to 8-3 in the bottom of the inning.

Donovan walked and Goldschmidt hit his two-run homer. Nootbaar walked, Jordan Walker hit a one-out double, Burleson hit a run-scoring chopper, and Gorman hit an RBI infield single.

After a 38-minute rain delay, Abrams led off the eighth inning with a double, then Thomas and Smith walked before Ruiz hit a run-scoring groundout.