NATIONALS QUICK WRAP
Score: Cardinals 7, Nationals 1
Recap: Starter Gio González worked out of trouble during two frames in a three-inning outing, allowing a run on four hits. But relievers Trevor Gott and Matt Grace combined to allow five runs in the fourth. ... Bryce Harper homered again and now has four roundtrippers this spring. ... Koda Glover made quick work of the Cardinals in the ninth, going three up, three down.
Need to know: The Nats are still learning about the subtleties of their new spring training home. Case in point: Center fielder Adam Eaton lost Kolten Wong's third-inning fly ball in the high sky and it fell for a single that loaded the bases. Eaton backed up near the warning track and shaded his eyes, but couldn't pick up the ball, which fell 40 feet in front of him.
On deck: Friday at Mets in Port St. Lucie, 1:05 p.m.
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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Gio González found himself in familiar territory Friday: limiting the damage.
The left-hander, making his third spring start and second straight against the Cardinals, breezed through a 1-2-3 first inning, then had to walk the tightrope in the second and third innings before exiting after 51 pitches.
"Had some pitches I was working on that I liked and got some good results out of it," González said.
González had hoped to use his curveball more, but the nature of the outing didn't allow him that latitude.
"Today I was trying to mix it in more and more in there, trying to get more of that in spring training. I'm throwing it as much as I can and I'm trying to throw it out there, too, when I'm warming up," he said. "It's good to have that pitch tuned up right when the season starts."
Manager Dusty Baker had hoped to extend González, who logged three innings against the Cardinals six days again Jupiter. But his pitch count made that impossible.
The second inning could have been worse, if not for catcher Pedro Severino gunning out Stephen Piscotty on an attempted steal of second for the inning's first out after a leadoff single. José MartÃnez followed with a single, and after Tommy Pham struck out looking, moved to second on a wild pitch. Patrick Wisdom fanned swinging to end the inning.
But the Cardinals broke through in the third for a 1-0 edge, though González wiggled out of a self-created jam. With one out, the Cardinals loaded the bases on two singles and a walk. Jhonny Peralta clubbed a sac fly to right, and Bryce Harper airmailed his throw to third, with all three runners advancing. González blew a fastball past a swinging Piscotty for the final out.
But at 51 pitches, he was done for the day, and Trevor Gott relieved in the fourth. González allowed a run on four hits with a walk and four strikeouts.
González said he got more out of having to battle through multiple Cardinals rallies than he would have by breezing through three or four innings.
"Absolutely, 100 percent," he said. "I think when you put yourself in a situation that, hopefully, you won't have to go through in the season, when it comes down to it, you're getting it down, you're knowing the situation. ... If I can throw strikes in certain counts, pitch with confidence, the same mindset, when it goes out there for the regular season, then we're talking something."
Gott ran into a similar problem in the fourth, but couldn't finish the inning. He loaded the bases on an infield hit, a walk and a gift single that center fielder Adam Eaton lost in the high sky. After Paul DeJong popped out, Eric Fryer singled home two runs and Matt Grace came out of the 'pen.
Grace got a potential inning-ending double play grounder of the bat of Dexter Fowler, but second baseman Stephen Drew couldn't catch third baseman Anthony Rendon's throw and a run scored. Kolten Wong singled in a run and Rendon threw Fowler out at home on fielder's choice. Wong scored on Grace's wild pitch before Piscotty grounded out.
Harper homered to right in the bottom of the fourth for the Nationals' first run.
Joe Blanton pitched the sixth, his first Grapefruit League appearance, and allowed no hits with a strikeout.