The Washington Nationals take the rubber game of their weekend series with the St. Louis Cardinals, downing the Redbirds 7-2 Sunday afternoon at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
The Nationals broke a scoreless tie in the 5 th inning when Ronnie Belliard belted his second home run of the season, a two-run shot to put Washington up 2-0.
The Cardinals got one back in the bottom of the 6 th following a lengthy rain delay, the second in as many games for the Cards and Nationals.
Washington put the game out of reach with five runs in the top; of the 8 th , four of them coming on a Ryan Langerhans grand slam.
Scott Spiezio belted his first homer of the year for the Redbirds in the bottom of the 8 th , but it was too little, too late, and the Cardinals never got any closer.
Saul Rivera (1-1) picked up the win in relief. Adam Wainwright (4-4) took the loss.
The Cardinals (20-27) get back into action Monday afternoon when they open a series with the Colorado Rockies in Denver. Kip Wells (2-8) goes to the mound against Colorado’s Jeff Francis (3-4).