Lance Lynn pitched seven innings of one-run ball to extend his winning streak to nine games and Carlos Beltran homered from both sides of the plate and drove in three runs to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 9-1 win over Pittsburgh on Friday night in a game that saw two Pirates and their manager ejected.

Matt Carpenter and Beltran started the game with home runs for the Cardinals, who have won four straight and five of six.

Pirates starter Jonathan Sanchez (0-3) lasted just two more batters. He and manager Clint Hurdle were ejected after Sanchez hit Cardinals cleanup hitter Allen Craig with a pitch.

Pirates hitting coach Jay Bell was ejected in the fifth inning for arguing after Starling Marte was hit by Lynn for the second straight time.

— Associated Press —

The St. Louis Cardinals’ very first batter, Matt Carpenter, got it started against Stephen Strasburg by stretching a single into a double when Bryce Harper’s throw to second base was bobbled and fell to the dirt.

One out later, Matt Holliday singled. Carlos Beltran walked. Yadier Molina delivered a two-run single. And then a throwing error on Daniel Descalso’s grounder padded the score.

Just like that, 23 pitches in, the Cardinals built a three-run lead against Strasburg’s Washington Nationals. And that, pretty much, was enough. On the strength of that half-inning, the Cardinals beat the Nationals 4-2 Wednesday to complete a sweep and give Washington’s All-Star ace the only four-start losing streak of his young career.

”It was good to get on Strasburg early,” Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma said. ”That’s what we were trying to do from the get-go.”

Jaime Garcia (2-1) allowed a run on Harper’s sixth-inning groundout, but otherwise added to the offensive struggles of the Nationals, who have lost six consecutive home games and nine of their last 12 overall to fall to 10-11.

With his team averaging 2.9 runs over its past dozen games, Washington manager Davey Johnson said he would insert bench player Steve Lombardozzi in the lineup Thursday against Cincinnati and make other changes to the batting order.

”We’re just not doing the things we’re capable of doing right now,” Johnson said. ”It’ll change, but I’m going to have to jumble things up a little bit. Try to light a fire.”

The Nationals produced only four runs in this three-game set, a rematch of the 2012 NL division series won by St. Louis.

”We feel pretty comfortable against them,” Kozma said.

Needing to be nearly perfect given Washington’s lack of offense, Strasburg (1-4) improved considerably after that 12-minute first inning. Getting ahead in the count, he threw 110 pitches over seven innings, giving up no other runs and a total of five hits, along with seven strikeouts.

”I was trying to throw the perfect pitch. I tell myself going into the game, ‘Don’t do that.’ And I go out there and I do it,” said Strasburg, who hasn’t won since opening day against Miami. ”So I was really happy I was able to make the adjustment, get the feeling back. My velocity came back up, I was throwing a lot more strikes, and they weren’t taking as good swings.”

That initial inning, though, was precisely the sort of ”scratch and claw” offense that Cardinals manager Mike Matheny spoke about before the game.

”People hate our ‘small ball’ theory,” Matheny said, ”but when we’re not banging balls into the stands every single night, we’ve got to do other things, whether people like it or not.”

His club used that style to add an insurance run in the eighth off Drew Storen – who blew a ninth-inning lead against St. Louis in Game 5 in October – on Holliday’s chopped single that didn’t leave the infield.

”The thing that the Cardinals did is, they’ve got their boppers in the middle, but then they’ve got guys like Descalso and (Shane) Robinson and Kozma,” Strasburg said. ”They grind you out. They’re not going to give in. They’re not just going to strike out.”

The Nationals, meanwhile, went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position. Trying to generate something for Washington’s slumbering offense, Ian Desmond bunted for a base hit with one out in the second, then stole second and advanced to third on a flyout to the warning track. But rookie third baseman Anthony Rendon struck out to end the inning.

Strasburg actually was the one who got Washington going at the plate, grounding a single up the middle to lead off the sixth. Denard Span followed with a single, and Jayson Werth’s groundout moved the runners up for Harper. He grounded out to second, but at least that got Strasburg home to make it 3-1.

A walk to Tyler Moore ended Garcia’s day after one run and four hits in 5 2-3 innings. Righty Joe Kelly entered to face Desmond, who struck out swinging, then flung his bat and helmet.

In the seventh, a pair of singles put runners at the corners with one out, but Kelly got out of that jam when pinch-hitter Lombardozzi struck out and Jhonatan Solano, taking off from first on a hit-and-run, was thrown out at second by catcher Molina.

Werth’s fourth homer, off Trevor Rosenthal in the eighth, gave Washington its second run. But that was too little to stop the Nationals from dropping below .500 for the first time since finishing the 2011 season 80-81.

”Somebody said last night it feels like we’re 0-20. But it’s not that bad. We’re only one game under .500, and it’s April. We’ll be all right,” Werth said. ”What we’re going through: It’s the first time this team has dealt with expectations, and there’s something to be said about that. But we’ll adjust.”

— Associated Press —

Adam Wainwright extended his sterling start to the season – and Washington’s mediocre one – by coming within two outs of his second shutout, leading the St. Louis Cardinals past the Nationals 2-0 Tuesday night.

The right-hander (4-1) lowered his ERA to 1.93 by going 8 1-3 scoreless innings, allowing only five hits.

Edward Mujica got the final two outs for his third save.

Allen Craig and Carlos Beltran drove in runs in the fourth off Nationals lefty Ross Detwiler (1-1), who gave up eight hits across six innings.

The Nationals, who led the majors with 98 wins last season and were a popular pick to do well in 2013, lost for the eighth time in their past 11 games to fall to 10-10.

How in command has Wainwright been? His walk to Bryce Harper with two outs in the sixth was the pitcher’s first free pass of the season, and it came in his fifth start, after 34 2-3 innings. That loaded the bases for Washington, but no matter: Wainwright struck out Adam LaRoche swinging with a high, 94 mph fastball. Catcher Yadier Molina pumped his fist.

In all, Wainwright struck out nine batters – LaRoche, four times, including in the ninth after Harper’s leadoff double – and had that lone walk.

For the Cardinals, this represents their first two-game ”winning streak” in a while: They had alternated wins and losses over the previous nine games.

Washington, meanwhile, dropped its fifth consecutive home game, and there even were scattered chants of ”Let’s go, Cardinals!” among the announced crowd of 29,986.

Before the game, Nationals manager Davey Johnson spoke about some of his hitters and pitchers ”trying to do too much,” perhaps as a result of the expectations the club faced entering the season, something unprecedented for the franchise since it moved from Montreal in 2005.

”Maybe from everybody picking us as a candidate to win our division,” Johnson said, ”everybody’s trying to be a little better than they need to be, instead of just relaxing, going out there and doing what you’re capable of doing.”

Of course, it was Johnson who came up with the phrase ”World Series or bust” to describe what the Nationals have said will be his final season as their manager.

”They win ballgames; I lose ’em. I ain’t doing too good here, lately. There’s nothing really you can say about it,” Johnson added. ”Just keep a positive attitude.”

Detwiler weaved his way in and out of the first three innings, each of which ended with a groundball double play, including a nifty one started by second baseman Danny Espinosa with a backhanded flip from his glove to shortstop Ian Desmond.

A fourth – and unusual – double play came in the fifth inning, when Wainwright’s sacrifice bunt with a man on first was fielded by third baseman Anthony Rendon, who threw to Espinosa covering first base for one out. The runner, Pete Kozma, kept going, and Espinosa threw to Detwiler covering third to get him out, too.

In the only early inning without a double play, the fourth, the Cardinals got to Detwiler with four consecutive opposite-field hits by right-handed batters, including the run-scoring double by Craig and single by Beltran.

Wainwright, in contrast, had a much easier time.

He needed all of four pitches to record three outs in the fifth inning, for example, as Desmond, Anthony Rendon and Espinosa all grounded out. That gave Wainwright 13 consecutive outs.

And he took only five pitches to get through the seventh against that same trio.

— Associated Press —

The setting and the situation were so similar, Pete Kozma couldn’t help but recall what happened six months ago.

”I can think of one game,” he said, more mischief in his words than in his deadpan facial expression.

With two runners on, No. 8 hitter Kozma came to bat for St. Louis in a tight game against the Washington Nationals, the Cardinals’ pitcher on deck. When that happened the last time these teams played a game that counted, it was Oct. 12, in Game 5 of an NL division series, and Washington pitched to Kozma, who delivered a go-ahead, two-run single.

On Monday night, the Nationals chose to intentionally walk Kozma – something some fans surely wished the Nationals had done the other time – and reliever Craig Stammen struck out Shelby Miller to end the inning. Earlier in the sixth, Yadier Molina drove in the tiebreaking run for St. Louis, backing Miller’s strong start, and the Cardinals beat the Nationals 3-2.

”Before the game, I got to thinking about it a little bit here and there,” Kozma said.

He was booed during pregame introductions and again when his name was announced before his first plate appearance, in the third inning. He singled to right in that at-bat, the ball landing not too far from where his go-ahead hit landed in October. This time, it was part of a two-run inning, with Kozma and Matt Carpenter coming home on Allen Craig’s double off the wall for a 2-0 lead.

When Kozma came up for the final time Monday, in the ninth, he was the first batter faced by – guess who? – Drew Storen, who was Washington’s closer on Oct. 12. The Nationals led 6-0 after three innings that day, and were still ahead 7-5 with two outs in the top of the ninth, before Storen gave up a tying hit to Daniel Descalso and Kozma’s hit that made it 9-7 and ended the Nationals’ season.

After striking out Kozma on Monday, Storen got pinch-hitter Descalso to pop out to third base.

”All of that did flash before my mind when it was all coming up,” Nationals manager Davey Johnson said.

Storen, by the way, said October, the Cardinals and Kozma were not in his thoughts at all.

”If it was,” he said, ”I shouldn’t be out there.”

Miller (3-1) struck out eight in 6 2-3 innings, giving up two runs and four hits.

”He’s got a different look than the majority of the guys we have on our staff, and a lot of other guys in the league. He’s keeping people off balance with that,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.

”You can’t go out there and try and teach somebody deception, necessarily,” Matheny added. ”The ball just comes out of his hand a little different.”

Edward Mujica pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save, and with Mitchell Boggs having blown two of four save chances, Matheny said he’ll figure out his bullpen roles game by game.

All the Cardinals’ runs came against Dan Haren (1-3), who allowed six hits in five-plus innings.

”I gave us a chance until the fifth,” Haren said. ”Then I got into a mess.”

In a span of three pitches. Haren plunked the inning’s first batter, Matt Holliday, and then served up first-pitch singles to Carlos Beltran and Molina, putting St. Louis ahead 3-2. Haren then walked David Freese, loading the bases with no outs, and was done.

In came righty reliever Craig Stammen, who got Jon Jay to ground into a 3-2-3 double play before the walk to Kozma and strikeout of Miller.

Miller departed after walking Kurt Suzuki to put two on with two outs in the seventh. Joe Kelly came on to face pinch-hitter Chad Tracy, who sent a sinking shot to right-center but Jay raced over to make a nice grab.

The Nationals didn’t score against relievers Trevor Rosenthal or Mujica, either, and now have lost seven of their last 10 games, averaging only 3.3 runs in that span.

”We’re just in a rut,” Washington first baseman Adam LaRoche said. ”Lot of quick innings. Not a ton of baserunners. And five, six guys that aren’t swinging the bat real good. When it rains, it pours.”

— Associated Press —

Erik Kratz hit a three-run home run to break the game open in the eighth inning and lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 7-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday night.

Mike Adams (1-1) tossed a scoreless eighth inning to help the Phillies split the four-game series. The Phillies snapped a 3-3 tie with a four-run eighth that put the game away.

Michael Young extended his hitting streak to 12 games with an infield single off reliever Mitchell Boggs (0-2). Dom Brown singled to put runners on the corners with one out. Ben Revere made it 4-3 on a go-ahead single up the middle.

Kratz then hit the first pitch deep into the left-field seats for a three-run homer and a 7-3 lead.

— Associated Press —