By MATT PIKE
Iván Herrera hit a pair of home runs, and Leo Bernal also homered, helping the St. Louis Cardinals score three runs in the eighth inning to come from behind and beat the Washington Nationals 5-3 at Busch Stadium and avoid a sweep in their final homestand of the season.
Herrera's first home run of the game with one out in the first inning gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. The Nationals though tied the game in the second inning with a sacrifice fly by Jacob Young scoring Daylen Lile. In the third St Louis went back on top, an RBI single by National League Rookie of the Year hopeful JJ Weterholt scoring José Fermín, pushing the Redbirds ahead 2-1, a lead St. Louis held until the sixth inning.
In the sixth inning, after Brady House singled to right field to leadoff the inning, CJ Abrams hit his 31st home run of the season to right field to put Washington ahead 3-2. Cardinals starter Quinn Mathews exited after a career high seven innings with a loss on record, allowing three runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out three. Luis Gastelum pitched a scoreless eighth inning for St. Louis.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Herrera hit his second home run of the game and 18th of the season to tie the game at 3-3 with one out. It was Herrera's third career multi-home run game and second this season after going deep twice on June 13th at Minnesota. With two outs, after Nationals reliever Yovanny Cruz walked Jordan Walker and the rookie Bernal followed with his fifth home run of the season to give the Cardinals the lead.
St. Louis closer Riley O’Brien pitched a perfect ninth to earn his National League-leading 38th save. At the plate, Herrera was 2-for-4 with two home runs and two RBIs. Bernal was 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs, also walking once. Fermín was 2-for-3 on the day with a double and a run scored.
St. Louis now hits the road for their final nine games, starting with a series on Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Andre Pallante (12-7, 3.70 ERA, 104Ks) is set to start for the Cardinals against Jared Jones (4-6, 4.17 ERA, 109Ks) for the Pirates. First pitch is at 5:40pm, coverage begins at 5:30 pm on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.