WASHINGTON (AP) — Kolten Wong homered and drove in the tiebreaking run with a double in the eighth inning to lift the St. Louis Cardinals to a 7-5 victory over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night.

Wong finished 3 for 4 with three RBIs. He had a two-run homer in the second inning and a single in the fourth.

Jon Jay drew a one-out walk off Blake Treinen (0-2) in the eighth and moved to third on Yadier Molina’s single. Wong then sliced a double down the left-field line, scoring Jay to break a 5-5 tie.

Matt Adams added a solo homer in the ninth off Rafael Martin to close the scoring.

Kevin Siegrist (1-0) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings and Trevor Rosenthal got the last three outs for his fifth save.

St. Louis won for the sixth time in seven games.

Wong also made two spectacular defensive plays at second base, ranging into short center field to grab grounders and throw out Yunel Escobar to end the fifth and Wilson Ramos starting the sixth.

The Cardinals appeared headed for an easy night after taking a 5-0 lead in the third inning.

Matt Carpenter led off the game with a homer off Washington starter Doug Fister, and Wong added his two-run shot in the second. The Cardinals added two more in the third before Washington rallied to tie it.

The Nationals bounced back with five runs in the third, tying the game on Escobar’s three-run double with two outs off St. Louis starter John Lackey.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: OF Randal Grichuk is making progress toward a return. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said Wednesday that Grichuk is moving around well but have yet to talk about a rehab assignment. Grichuk went on the disabled list with a lower back strain last Friday.

Nationals: 3B Anthony Rendon (sprained left knee) played five innings in extended spring training on Wednesday and is coming back to Washington for a workout with the Nationals on Thursday. He’ll then head to Double-A Harrisburg to begin a rehab assignment on Friday. Manager Matt Williams said he wasn’t sure of a timeline for Rendon returning to the Nationals but they wanted to get him up to playing nine innings and a bunch of at-bats.

WELCOME TO THE BIG LEAGUES

Nationals left-hander Matt Grace made his major league debut in this game. Called up earlier in the day when LHP Felipe Rivero (intestinal bleed) went on the 15-day disabled list, Grace threw a scoreless seventh inning, walking one without giving up a hit while the teams were locked in a 5-5 tie.

DOUBLE TROUBLE

Lackey made two errors on one play in the bottom of the fourth inning. Denard Span hit a grounder back to the box that Lackey fielded, then dropped and then threw wildly past first. However, the Nationals stranded Span at second.

UP NEXT

Cardinals RHP Michael Wacha (2-0, 1.35) has beaten the Reds in his first two starts, giving up a total of two runs while winning both times.

Nationals: RHP Max Scherzer (1-1, 0.83), a St. Louis native, is coming off a stellar eight-inning effort in a victory over the Phillies last Friday. He has already struck out 25 in 21 2/3 innings this season.

— Associated Press —

WASHINGTON (AP) — Heading toward a throng of excited Washington Nationals teammates after his first game-ending homer in four years, Yunel Escobar jumped head-first toward the plate.

“He’s got life to him. Teammates love him here,” Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez said afterward. “He’s just a different ballplayer.”

Returning to the lineup after sitting out two games with a groin injury, Escobar drove an 89 mph fastball from former teammate Carlos Villanueva to left with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning, lifting the Nationals to a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.

It was the second homer of 2015 for Escobar, acquired this offseason in the deal that sent setup man Tyler Clippard to Oakland. Escobar was supposed to be Washington’s starting second baseman but has been filling in at third while Anthony Rendon is on the disabled list.

“He would play anywhere we ask him to,” manager Matt Williams said.

Escobar went to the plate looking for a fastball from Villanueva (1-1), the seventh pitcher for the Cardinals — and that’s just what he got.

“He ambushed me,” said Villanueva, who was on the Toronto Blue Jays with Escobar in 2011-12.

Villanueva hadn’t pitched since April 12 against Cincinnati.

“I don’t see that being a factor,” he said.

The Nationals have won five of six games to get back to .500 after starting the year 2-6. They ended the Cardinals’ five-game winning streak.

After Gonzalez managed to keep the Cardinals off the scoreboard despite giving up eight hits and four walks in six innings, Aaron Barrett (2-0) earned the win by pitching the 10th. He worked around a leadoff single and stolen base by Pete Kozma — forever associated around these parts with the Cardinals’ 2012 NL Division Series Game 5 comeback.

Thanks to Bryce Harper’s RBI single in the third — when he also wound up getting doubled off base on an appeal — the Nationals led 1-0 heading into the ninth inning, when closer Drew Storen blew the save. Matt Holliday tied the game with an RBI single, making him 4 for 4, extending his hitting streak to 12 games.

In the clubhouse later, Escobar used his phone to snap a photo of a baseball inscribed with “Walk off HR” — the third of his career but first since April 2011.

The Cuban said he never before had employed his unusual head-first celebration, explaining through a translator: “I’m just trying to have fun.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: LHP Jaime Garcia (DL, left shoulder) is scheduled to throw a simulated game Saturday.

Nationals: 3B Rendon (sprained left knee) played three innings at extended spring training and could be headed out on a minor league rehab assignment as soon as Friday.

STATCAST

The MLB Network’s broadcast of Cardinals-Nationals represented the in-game debut of Statcast tracking technology, which uses stereoscopic cameras and radar sensors to monitor elements such as a batter’s exit velocity, a pitcher’s spin rate and perceived velocity, an infielder’s reaction time, and an outfielder’s route efficiency. One example: When CF Jon Jay tracked down Zimmerman’s fly in the third, Statcast showed he ran 27.3 feet, with a top speed of 17 mph. It was one of several outstanding catches by Jay.

NAVAL GRAD

The Cardinals brought up reliever Mitch Harris, a 2008 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, from Triple-A Memphis. The Hall of Fame said it believes the only Naval Academy graduate to appear in a major league game was pitcher Nemo Gaines, who made four relief appearances in 1921 with the Washington Senators. Harris did not get into Tuesday’s game.

UP NEXT

Cardinals RHP John Lackey (1-0, 2.77 ERA) is one strikeout shy of 1,800 for his career heading into Wednesday’s game, his first start against the Nationals since 2008, when he was a member of the Angels. He’ll face Nationals RHP Doug Fister (1-0, 0.69). In 2013, they were opponents in the AL Championship Series, although never pitched against each other, as Lackey’s Red Sox beat Fister’s Tigers in six games.

— Associated Press —