ST. LOUIS (AP) — Ryan Howard still gets psyched up to play in St. Louis.

The Philadelphia first baseman homered and Aaron Nola threw seven innings to lead the Phillies to a 1-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.

Philadelphia has won seven of eight while St. Louis has lost five of six.

Howard, a St. Louis native, has 12 homers and 40 RBI in 36 games in Busch Stadium.

“This is home, this is where it all began for me,” Howard said. “I guess, being at home, I do feel I see the ball a lot better.”

Howard has 22 homers in 66 career games against the Cardinals, his favorite boyhood team.

“For some reason guys hit well in certain ballparks,” Philadelphia manager Pete Mackanin said. “It was good to see him bust out.”

Howard broke out of an 0-for-12 skid with a sixth-inning homer off Michael Wacha (2-2) that traveled 411 feet. Howard, who attended Lafayette High in the St. Louis suburb of Wildwood, picked on the first pitch.

“I was just looking for something up in the zone,” Howard said. “He does a great job of keeping the ball down and putting it where he wants to put it. He kind of left that one over the middle and I tried to take advantage of it.”

Wacha admitted he made a mistake.

“A backed up cutter, I left it over the middle,” Wacha said. “He put a good swing on it. He doesn’t miss those.”

Nola (2-2) allowed two hits and struck out seven in a career-high 111-pitch stint. He has a string of 20 consecutive scoreless innings dating to April 22. Nola, who retired the last 10 batters, has given up one run or fewer in four of six starts this season.

“I feel like I’m mixing my pitches in well,” Nola said. “I’ve been trying to throw my changeup a little more. And tonight, when I did it, I felt like I used it efficiently.”

Jeanmar Gomez picked up his ninth save in as many opportunities. Hector Neris struck out the side in the eighth.

Right fielder Peter Bourjos made a diving catch of a sinking liner by Randal Grichuk to end the fourth inning with Yadier Molina on base.

Wacha gave up one run and five hits in eight innings. He struck out eight and walked three.

“What a great outing, he had everything,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “It’s shame we weren’t able to get a little more going offensively.”

The Cardinals also threatened in the first inning. Matt Carpenter led off with a double, but Nola retired the next three hitters in order.

LATE SHOW

The Cardinals have scored a major league-best 61 runs after the sixth inning this season. They have hit 19 home runs in that stretch, also tops in the majors.

TRAINER’S ROOM:

Cardinals: OF Tommy Pham, who took batting practice on Monday, will likely go out on a rehab assignment in the next few days. Pham has missed 26 games after being placed on the DL with a left oblique strain on April 4.

UP NEXT

Phillies: LHP Adam Morgan (0-0, 5.40) will make his second start of the season in the third game of the four-game series on Wednesday. Morgan gave up three runs in five innings of a 4-3 win over Cleveland on Friday.

Cardinals: RHP Mike Leake (0-3, 5.83) will start for the Cardinals. He has given up four or more runs in all five starts this season. Leake, who was signed as a free agent on Dec. 23 after six years with Cincinnati, is 2/3 with a 6.00 ERA in eight career starts against Phillies.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Adam Wainwright pitched six innings and hit a three-run home run — the first of five for St. Louis — as the Cardinals snapped a four-game losing streak with a 10-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday night.

Matt Adams, rookie Aledmys Diaz and Randal Grichuk added solo homers and Kolten Wong hit a two-run homer to help St. Louis overcome a 3-0 deficit and avoid its first five-game slide since losing seven straight from July 26-31, 2013.

Wainwright, who has struggled since missing most of last season with an Achilles tendon injury, has won two straight. Wainwright (2-3) was the last Cardinals pitcher to get a win after yielding four runs over 5 1/3 innings in an 11-4 rout at Arizona on April 27.

In this victory, Wainwright pitched six innings, allowing three runs and five hits. He improved to 6-2 in 11 career starts against the Phillies.

Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson (2-2) got chased after 5 1/3 innings. In his first outing against St. Louis since 2011, Hellickson gave up six runs, seven hits and four walks as the Phillies had a six-game winning streak ended.

The Cardinals tied the game 3-3 in the fourth inning when Wainwright walloped a three-run homer 408 feet into the second deck in left field. Wainwright hit a 3-1 fastball for his seventh career home run and first since Sept. 5, 2012, against the New York Mets.

In his previous two plate appearances, Wainwright had extra base hits. He doubled in the first inning and hit a bases-loaded triple in his last at-bat against Arizona.

St. Louis made it 5-3 on back-to-back home runs by Adams and Diaz to start the sixth. Diaz’ 417-foot blast, his fifth, went into the second deck in left field. The sixth run came on Stephen Piscotty’s RBI single.

Wong hit his first homer of the season with two outs in the eighth and Grichuk followed with a solo shot, giving St. Louis a 9-3 lead.

St. Louis hit six homers in a 14-3 win over Cincinnati on April 15.

The final run for the Cardinals came on an RBI single by Brandon Moss.

The Phillies took a 3-0 lead in the third on three singles and a walk. Freddy Galvis drove in two runs with a bases-loaded double to left.

BATTING EIGHTH

The Phillies hit their pitcher in the eighth slot in the lineup for the 11th straight game. Philadelphia is 9-2 with that arrangement.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: LF Cody Asche, who has been on the 15-day DL due to a Grade 1 strain of his right oblique he suffered in February, took some swings before the game as he starts to begin some baseball activities.

Cardinals: OF Tommy Pham, who sustained a left oblique strain on Opening Day, took batting practice for the first time Monday since going on the DL April. 4. It is expected Pham may begin a minor league rehab assignment later this week. He has missed 25 games.

UP NEXT

Phillies: Aaron Nola (1-2, 3.55) will make his first career appearance against St. Louis. Nola’s last two starts have been solid. The 22-year-old rookie, who was the Phillies’ 2014 first-round draft pick, threw seven innings of one-run, four-hit ball in a 5-2 win in Milwaukee on April 22. In his last outing, Nola allowed two hits during seven innings in a 3-0 win at Washington but did not get the decision.

Cardinals: Michael Wacha (2-1, 3.07) will make his sixth start of the season. He has a 2.16 ERA in his last four starts with the Cardinals winning three games. He threw a season-high seven innings in his last start, a 3-0 loss at Arizona. He had a season-high nine strikeouts but gave up two home runs after not allowing any in his first four starts.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Max Scherzer always makes sure to eat some toasted ravioli when he comes back to Missouri.

After he pitched seven strong innings Sunday to beat his hometown team for the first time, maybe Scherzer should have the St. Louis specialty more often.

“That’s the best I’ve seen Max this year,” Washington Nationals manager Dusty Baker said after his team completed a three-game sweep of the Cardinals with a 6-1 victory. “Sharp with the breaking ball, good velocity. . It was Max’s day. Max kept us in the game until our offense did something.”

Clint Robinson and Danny Espinosa hit back-to-back home runs, providing the power for Washington on a day when NL MVP Bryce Harper struck out all four times up.

Scherzer (3-1), who grew up in suburban St. Louis, struck out nine and scattered four singles. He didn’t allow a runner past first base, earning his first win in five career starts against the Cardinals.

“I instantly could feel like I was on top of the ball and anytime I needed it the fastball was down at the knees,” Scherzer said. “That’s when I’m at my best. When I can throw the fastball early in the counts and throw strikes in and away, it just sets up all my stuff.”

By finishing the weekend sweep, the Nationals emphatically ended years of frustration at Busch Stadium. It was their first series win in St. Louis since May 2007. Washington improved to 17-7 overall, the best start in club history through 24 games.

The Cardinals have lost four straight and dropped to 5-7 at home this season. St. Louis went 55-26 at home in 2015.

Carlos Martinez (4-1) needed only 63 pitches to get through his first five innings but was charged with four runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. He walked none and struck out eight, including Harper three times.

Martinez left the Cardinals briefly late last week to address a personal matter. The 24-year-old right-hander is the subject of a civil lawsuit filed against him by a woman in West Palm Beach, Florida, near the team’s spring training site in Jupiter.

The lawsuit filed in Miami seeks more than $1.5 million and accuses the pitcher of a negligent transmission of a sexually transmitted disease. It seeks actual and special damages along with mental anguish and exemplary damages. It also seeks punitive damages because of outrageous actions.

Martinez’s attorney has said the claims are false. The pitcher mostly avoided the issue after the game.

“I’m pretty sure I am healthy and I’m pretty sure I’m feeling good and I’m pretty sure I know who I am and at the same time, this is not part of the job,” Martinez said through a translator. “That’s for my lawyer and agent to take care of.”

Matt den Dekker snapped Martinez’s 16-inning scoreless streak with a single in the sixth to score Jose Lobaton, breaking a scoreless tie.

The home runs by Robinson and Espinoza came on consecutive pitches in the seventh, quickly turning a one-run game into a 4-0 Nationals lead.

“He had one of his best fastballs he’s had yet,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Martinez. “Command of his off-speed stuff just one inning got him.”

Five of the Nationals’ runs came on first-pitch swings.

“The best pitch to hit, especially with runners in scoring position, is the first pitch because the pitcher’s going to try to get ahead of you and then he’s going to go to work on you,” Baker said. “So you’ve got to get to work on him before they go to work on you.”

Daniel Murphy added an RBI double in the eighth, and pinch-hitter Chris Heisey homered in the ninth.

Scherzer also had a pair of hits, the second of which chased Martinez. Scherzer’s bunt moved Lobaton into scoring position ahead of den Dekker’s single.

Brandon Moss’ opposite-field home run with two outs in the ninth kept the Cardinals from being shut out.

MOLINA KEPT OFF THE BASES

Yadier Molina went 0 for 3, snapping an 11-game hitting streak and an 18-game streak of reaching base safely. Ted Simmons was the last Cardinals catcher to reach base safely in 19 straight when he reached in 30 consecutive games in 1979.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Nationals: C Wilson Ramos was activated from the bereavement list, and C Pedro Severino was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse.

Cardinals: SS Jhonny Peralta (thumb) took grounders and threw to first for the first time since his injury in spring training. He also took controlled swings, but there is no specific timetable yet for his return.

UP NEXT

Nationals: LHP Gio Gonzalez (1-1, 1.42 ERA) gets the start as Washington begins a three-game series at Kansas City on Monday night. Gonzalez is 3-3 with a 7.49 ERA in eight career starts against the Royals, who counter with RHP Edinson Volquez (3-1, 3.34).

Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (1-3, 7.16 ERA) starts the opener of a four-game series against the visiting Phillies on Monday night. Wainwright helped himself by hitting a three-run triple to earn the win in his last start. The Phillies will start RHP Jeremy Hellickson (2-1, 3.81).

— Associated Press —