Cardinals Sweep Nationals with 6-1 Win, Extend Streak to Eight

The St. Louis Cardinals (22-19) wrapped up a three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals (17-24) with a 6-1 win on Mother's Day, stretching their winning streak to eight. Home runs from Lars Nootbaar, Willson Contreras and Nolan Arenado led the offense, while Miles Mikolas capped off the rotation’s most dominant turn of the season.

Starting Pitchers

Miles Mikolas (STL): 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 5 K, 1 BB

MacKenzie Gore (WAS): 6.2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 7 K, 3 BB

Scoring Recap

1st Inning

Lars Nootbaar opened the game with a 382-foot solo home run to right field, giving the Cardinals a quick 1-0 lead.

2nd Inning

Willson Contreras added another run with a leadoff solo shot to center field, traveling 406 feet.

4th Inning

Nathaniel Lowe answered for the Nationals with a solo homer to left-center, cutting the lead to 2-1. It was just the second homer allowed by Mikolas this season.

7th Inning

Nolan Arenado led off with a double, Iván Herrera walked and Yohel Pozo drove in Arenado with a single to center. Victor Scott II followed with an RBI single to score Herrera, pushing the lead to 4-1. Steven Matz tossed a clean 1-2-3 bottom half to keep the momentum going.

8th Inning

Masyn Winn drew a leadoff walk before Arenado crushed a two-run homer to left-center, extending the Cardinals’ lead to 6-1. Phil Maton worked around a walk and single by inducing a double play to end the inning.

9th Inning

John King sealed the win with a perfect 1-2-3 ninth.

Notes and Stats

The Cardinals have now won 10 games by more than five runs this season.

Victor Scott II extended his hitting streak to 11 games, collecting 13 hits during that span.

Willson Contreras has reached base in 23 straight games.

St. Louis has outscored its last two opponents 33-7.

Betting Recap

Cardinals ML (+130) cashed for the eighth straight game and the total score stayed under 8.5 (-110). Eric Sontag’s first five under hit as Mikolas continued a strong run through the rotation. A unit bet on each Cardinals win during the streak would be up +7.65 units.

On Deck

The Cardinals head to Philadelphia to open a three-game set against the Phillies beginning Monday at 5:45 p.m. CT. Matthew Liberatore will start for St. Louis against Phillies lefty Cristopher Sánchez. The Cardinals remain in second place in the NL Central, but move to within one game of the division-leading Cubs, who lost 6-2 to the Mets on Sunday.

Cards Hub Postgame: Great Eight! St. Louis Cardinals extend winning streak!

READ MORE: Cardinals Top Nationals 4-2 to Extend Win Streak to Seven