Major League Baseball

Moss' 3-run homer ends it as Cardinals beat Nationals 8-5

Published Sep. 1, 2015 11:59 p.m. ET

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ST. LOUIS (AP) Brandon Moss hit a three-run walk-off home run with two outs in the ninth, giving the St. Louis Cardinals an 8-5 win over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night.

The NL Central-leading Cardinals have won nine of 10 and lead the division by six games. They've won nine in a row over Washington, coming from behind the last two nights.

Moss, who struck out with the bases loaded to end the third, homered off Casey Janssen (1-4) to straightaway center on a 1-0 count. Janssen took the loss on Monday, allowing four runs in two-thirds of an inning.

Mitch Harris (2-1) worked the last two innings, allowing two hits.

Ryan Zimmerman homered and Anthony Rendon had a two-run double in a four-run third for Washington.

The Cardinals scored three runs on one hit in the bottom of the third and tied it with two runs on one hit with an error in the eighth.

Both starters lasted just 2 2-3 innings. Nationals rookie Joe Ross gave up one hit but had a season-high six walks and was charged with three runs. Cardinals call-up Marco Gonzales allowed four runs on seven hits with lots of solid contact.

Gonzales, who was 1-4 with a 5.20 ERA for Triple-A Memphis, started in place of Carlos Martinez, who was scratched with back soreness but is expected to make his next turn.

Carlos Villanueva replaced Gonzales and restored order, allowing one hit in 3 1-3 innings with six strikeouts.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Nationals: Stephen Strasburg, limited to four innings by upper back tightness in his last start, played catch without problems. If he feels well, he'll be scheduled for a bullpen session that would keep him on track to go Friday against Atlanta.

Cardinals: Matt Holliday took batting practice at Busch Stadium for the first time since straining his right quadriceps muscle and lined several homers. Lefty Tim Cooney will be shut down after three weeks of inactivity following an appendectomy.

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