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Washington Nationals at St. Louis Cardinals

Sun Sep 201:15 PM CTSt. Louis, MO
By JR·2 min read
Washington NationalsWSH(73-83)
St. Louis CardinalsSTL(76-80)
3—5
FINAL
Final123456789RHE
WSH
010002000371
STL
10100003—560

TLDR: St. Louis had lost 4 straight and dropped the first two of this set by a combined 17-6 — and then Iván Herrera hit two home runs to end all of it in one afternoon.

Jake Irvin (2-9, 5.40 ERA) and Quinn Mathews (2-3, 3.65 ERA) took the mound for the getaway game at Busch Stadium, and neither one pitched like the numbers suggested. Irvin, who'd been fighting his command since coming off the injured list, struck out 8 over 5.1 innings and didn't walk a batter. Mathews went 7 innings and allowed 3 earned runs, working around traffic all afternoon rather than cruising.

FINAL
Spread
WIN
Total
Nationals
(73-83)
LWWLW
3
Cardinals
(76-80)
WLLLL
5
1st pitch87°

St. Louis snapped a 4-game skid and avoided the sweep by scoring 3 in the 8th, with Iván Herrera's two home runs and a Leo Bernal shot erasing a Washington lead built on a CJ Abrams homer. Jake Irvin struck out 8 without a walk in the loss, and Quinn Mathews got through 7 innings despite allowing 3 earned runs.

Nationals
  • Irvin struck out 8 over 5.1 innings, no walks
  • Abrams' 6th-inning homer put them ahead 3-2
  • Bullpen allowed 3 runs in the decisive 8th
  • Lost after winning the first two of the set 17-6
Cardinals
  • Herrera homered twice, including the go-ahead 8th-inning shot
  • Bernal added a 2-run homer in that same rally
  • Mathews worked 7 innings despite the traffic
  • Trailed 3-2 into the 8th off a shorthanded bench
  • Still finished the 3-game set 1-2

The Cardinals' lineup was still down Blaze Jordan, Joshua Baez and Everson Pereira, and for six innings that thin bench looked like exactly the problem the preview flagged. Herrera's first homer, a solo shot in the 1st, and a run in the 3rd had St. Louis up 2-0 before CJ Abrams answered with a 2-run homer in the 6th that put Washington back in front, 3-2, heading to the 8th.

Jake Irvin
Jake Irvin
(2-9)·5.40 ERA
Sep 7 @ Padres
L
5.2IP
3ER
3K
2BB
102P
09/20 Lineup
Quinn Mathews
Quinn Mathews
(2-3)·3.65 ERA
Sep 14 vs Giants
W
6.2IP
1ER
8K
2BB
99P
09/20 Lineup
Washington Nationals
(8)
  • 15-Day-ILOrlando Ribalta (RP) — MRI results on Ribalta's right forearm came back negative Tuesday, Kyle Williams of TheBanner.com reports.09/09
  • 60-Day-ILConnelly Early (SP) — Nationals president of baseball operations Paul Toboni said Wednesday that Early (elbow) is tentatively scheduled to make his team debut Sept. 26 against the Mets, Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic reports.09/17
  • 60-Day-ILMatt Waldron (RP) — The Nationals placed Waldron on the 15-day injured list Tuesday, retroactive to Saturday, with chest inflammation.09/12
  • 60-Day-ILDrew Millas (C) — Millas will undergo surgery Friday on his fractured left index finger, Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic reports.09/10
  • 60-Day-ILDJ Herz (SP) — Herz (elbow) struck out two and allowed one hit and two walks over two scoreless innings in a rehab start Thursday with Double-A Harrisburg.08/21
  • 60-Day-ILPJ Poulin (RP) — The Nationals transferred Poulin (forearm) from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL on Sunday.08/02
  • 60-Day-ILMitchell Parker (RP) — Parker underwent elbow ligament repair surgery with an internal brace Wednesday, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com reports.07/30
  • 60-Day-ILKen Waldichuk (RP) — Waldichuk (elbow) underwent Tommy John surgery and an internal brace procedure April 21 and is hopeful to return to game action at some point early in the 2027 season, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.06/11
St. Louis Cardinals
(5)
  • 10-Day-ILBlaze Jordan (3B) — Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Saturday that Jordan (ankle) will not play again this season, John Denton of Roundtable.io reports.09/19
  • 10-Day-ILJoshua Baez (LF) — The Cardinals placed Baez on the 10-day injured list Friday with a left oblique strain.09/18
  • 10-Day-ILEverson Pereira (RF) — Pereira (hand) began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Memphis on Thursday, going 1-for-3 with an RBI single along with two walks.09/18
  • 15-Day-ILHunter Dobbins (SP) — Dobbins underwent reconstructive surgery on his right elbow Wednesday and is expected to require a 12-month recovery, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.09/04
  • 60-Day-ILMax Rajcic (RP) — Rajcic revealed on his Instagram account Thursday that he recently underwent a right elbow UCL reconstruction.07/23

That's when the game turned. St. Louis strung together a 3-run 8th inning, capped by Herrera's second homer of the day and a two-run shot from Leo Bernal, and Washington's bullpen — already without Matt Waldron and Orlando Ribalta for weeks — had no answer. It also lined up with the loudest stretch in the Polymarket chat all game, a 66-message burst as the lead flipped for good.

One poster in the room asked "Is STL going to win?" right as the rally started; a few minutes later, someone was already typing "Cash out STL money line boys." The room had spent the first two games watching Washington run away with this series, and for a few innings on Sunday it looked headed the same way before St. Louis flipped it in the 8th.

Washington Nationals
(73-83)
09/20L@Cardinals3-5
09/19W@Cardinals8-5
09/18W@Cardinals9-1
09/16LvsPhillies0-3
09/15WvsPhillies6-3
St. Louis Cardinals
(76-80)
09/20WvsNationals5-3
09/19LvsNationals5-8
09/18LvsNationals1-9
09/16LvsGiants5-6
09/15LvsGiants3-10

It's a split ending to a lopsided set: Washington took the first two meetings by a combined 17-6 before St. Louis salvaged the finale behind two bench pieces who'd been afterthoughts against a beat-up bullpen. Irvin leaves St. Louis with a strikeout total that says the stuff is still there even as the record says otherwise, and Herrera's afternoon is the kind of game a rebuilding roster points to when nothing else about the season is working.

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