Cardinals make Fister, Treinen pay for mistakes in 7-5 loss

The Nationals dug themselves an early hole tonight, battled to even the score and then wasted a gritty comeback in a 7-5 loss to the Cardinals.

The evening got off to a rough beginning for right-hander Doug Fister after Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter belted a changeup over the right field wall for a leadoff homer. Fister couldn't escape the longball in the second, either, after second baseman Kolten Wong deposited another Fister offering into the stands in right.

By the time the Nats came to bat in the third, they were staring a five-run deficit in the face.

"If you throw a ball down but middle, you can still get a ground ball out of it," said Fister. "If it's up, there's a lot more room for their success than mine. I walked a fine line there and didn't walk the line. I just got beat."

The Nats showed impressive fortitude by responding with a five-run third, capped off by third baseman Yunel Escobar's three-run double.

"We know we can score runs," said first baseman Ryan Zimmerman. "Dougie didn't have his best stuff, but he battled and got through the sixth inning. We did a good job of coming back, gave ourselves a chance to win."

Zimmerman drove in his team-leading 12th run in the third-inning rally. He produced two infield singles to run his streak to three straight multi-hit games.

Both offenses cooled down until the eighth, when Nationals manager Matt Williams called for right-hander Blake Treinen from the bullpen with the game still deadlocked at 5-5. Treinen surrendered a one-out walk to center fielder Jon Jay. Catcher Yadier Molina then singled, advancing Jay to third. Wong, who stole the show with spectacular defensive plays all night, smacked a ball down the left field line, easily plating Jay to break the tie.

"I had a couple hitters where I left the ball up and they ended up making me pay for it, instead of really trying to drag the ball down, having them pound the ball in the ground," said Treinen. "I just left the ball up to Molina and Wong, and they made me pay."

Williams defended Treinen after the game, despite the third shaky appearance for the 26-year-old early in the season.

"I wouldn't make too much of that," said Williams. "He's throwing the ball effectively. Better sliders tonight, really good sliders. That ball can easily go foul and we get out of that inning. That's the way the ball bounces sometimes."

Treinen has now allowed five runs, four earned, on 10 hits in only 6 2/3 innings.

It's the second time the Nats have come back from a deficit of more than four runs this season.

"I'm proud of the guys for fighting," said Williams. "It's one of those days where you could just easily fold the tent and say it's not our day today, but they came back and made a game of it. We had a chance."