Nationals 8, Cardinals 5: Four Errors, Two Blown Leads, an 11th

Six scoreless, then a night that refused to stay 3-0

September 19, 2026 - St. Louis - Andrew Alvarez threw six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts. The Washington Nationals still needed 11 innings, six relievers, and a four-run 11th to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-5 at Busch Stadium. They made four errors. They blew a 3-0 lead and a 4-3 lead. They won anyway.

Partly cloudy. 95 degrees. Wind 5 mph right to left. First pitch 6:15 p.m. Attendance 29,774. The game lasted 4 hours. Washington had 12 hits and 12 left on. St. Louis had 14 hits, 13 left on, and still lost.

"We're lucky we won making four errors," manager Blake Butera said, per the MLB recap. "We also know that we can't afford to make this many errors and expect to win every night. We're fortunate we did win tonight."

Lile's 22nd, then Alvarez's six zeroes

James Wood reached in the first. Daylen Lile hit his 22nd, a 404-foot fly to center. 2-0. Jorbit Vivas scored on Nasim Nuñez's infield single in the sixth. 3-0. Alvarez had given St. Louis five hits and one walk through six. That is the clean version of Saturday.

The seventh started the other version. Masyn Winn scored when Pedro Pagés reached on an infield single and Richard Lovelady threw the ball away. José Fermín singled Pagés home. 3-2. Three of Washington's four errors came in the last five innings, the MLB recap said. The lead that Alvarez built was now a one-run game.

Pagés singled Nathan Church home in the ninth. 3-3. Erik Tolman took the blown save. The extras did not get quieter. Vivas singled José Tena home in the 10th. 4-3. Winn singled Leo Bernal home and was out stretching. 4-4. Riley Cornelio had already inherited a night that would not end.

Four in the 11th, then bases loaded with nobody out

Yohandy Morales scored in the 11th when Jacob Young reached on catcher's interference. Tena doubled Harry Ford and Nuñez home. Dylan Crews hit a sacrifice fly, Young scoring. 8-4. JJ Wetherholt singled Church home. 8-5. That was St. Louis's last run.

Cornelio still had to get through the bottom of the 11th after St. Louis loaded the bases with nobody out. He recorded five outs across the 10th and 11th and escaped. Will Dion came in with two outs and got Bernal's flyout for his first save. The MLB recap said Washington emptied its bench. Jack Sinclair had already thrown 1 1/3 scoreless in the middle of the mess.

"I think this team has been through a lot," Cornelio said, per the MLB recap. "We definitely know how to fight at any time, any given moment, any inning."

Alvarez's line stayed the best thing on the card: 6 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 92 pitches. He did not get the win. Cornelio (3-2) did, with a blown save attached. Gordon Graceffo (8-2) took the loss after the 11th. Michael McGreevy had started and given two earned in four innings. The bullpens played the last seven.

Vivas finished 4-for-6 with a run and an RBI. Wood went 2-for-5 and scored on Lile's homer. Tena went 1-for-2 with a double, a steal, and two RBI. CJ Abrams went 0-for-5 with a walk and two steals. Fermín and Iván Herrera each had three hits for St. Louis. Pagés and Church each had two. Fourteen hits, five runs, and two errors of their own.

Butera pulled Wood late for Young after Wood slowed on a ground ball in the ninth, the MLB recap said. Wood called it a lesson.

"I feel like we're trying to build something here," Wood said, per that recap. "I plan on being here for a long time, so I feel like I got to be able to set an example for stuff like that."

A second straight win that still looks like a teaching tape

Washington is 73-82. Friday was a 9-1 that ended St. Louis's season. Saturday was the messy sequel. Butera, per the MLB recap, is not treating the last week as something to play out. Four errors and two blown leads are the tape. The four-run 11th is the other half of it.

St. Louis is 75-80 and already eliminated. Herrera's 3-for-5 and Fermín's 3-for-5 sat on a card that still ended 8-5. Church scored twice. Winn drove in the tying run in the 10th. None of it became a walk-off.

"I think that's the privilege of being young," Wood said, per the MLB recap. "We still have a lot of room to grow and learn."

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Washington at 14 team fantasy points, fourth on the slate. Alvarez had 22 pitching FP. St. Louis finished at 1.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: ESPN recap and box score, MLB.com Gameday wrap, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*