Nationals 3, Cardinals 2

Friday, August 3rd) Final Score: Washington 3, St. Louis 2 Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Ryan Zimmerman knocked in the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth, as the Washington Nationals earned a 3-2 victory over St. Louis in the opener of a three-game series at RFK Stadium. Ronnie Belliard and Felipe Lopez added an RBI apiece for Washington, which tied a season high with its fourth straight win. Tim Redding got the start and tossed 6 1/3 strong innings, yielding just one run on seven hits with eight strikeouts. Chad Cordero (2-2) got the win after tossing a scoreless ninth. Kip Wells opposed Redding and was nearly as good, yielding a pair of runs over six frames. Ryan Franklin (4-1), though, was ineffective in the ninth for the Cardinals, who have lost three in a row. Pinch-hitter Tony Batista got to Franklin immediately with a leadoff single, and Felipe Lopez followed with a fielders choice grounder. Lopez then moved to second on Belliards base hit a batter later before Zimmerman stepped in and hit a single to left, scoring Lopez to give Washington its 11th home win in 13 tries. The teams paid tribute to the Negro League on Friday, with the Cardinals wearing the St. Louis Stars road uniforms and the Nationals donning the 1943 Homestead Grays uniform. St. Louis assumed a 1-0 lead in the second. With runners on first and second and two outs, Wells came through with a single that scored Adam Kennedy. The Nationals countered with a run in the fifth, as Lopez hit a two-out double that brought in Redding. The home team then went in front in the seventh on a sacrifice fly from Belliard. A walk by pinch-hitter DAngelo Jimenez loaded the bases, and Belliard brought Ryan Langerhans in a batter later with his fly ball to left. The Cardinals knotted the contest at 2-2 in the eighth. Back-to-back singles from Juan Encarnacion and Kennedy put runners on the corners for Yadier Molina, who hit a base hit to center to push across the tying run. Game Notes Wells avoided becoming the majors second 14-game loser, a mark the White Sox Jose Contreras hit on Tuesday...The Nationals took two out of three from the Cardinals in St. Louis from May 25-27...St. Louis outhit Washington 11-10.