Williams recaps Nats' 3-1 win over Cardinals

A night after the Nationals were shut out and made three errors in an 8-0 loss, they scratched out a tough 3-1 victory against the Cardinals, a well-played game that saw much crisper defense and tremendous pitching. It wasn't easy - few games against St. Louis ever are - but the Nats picked up the win, marking the first time they've beaten the Cardinals since Game 4 of the National League Division Series in 2012. Here's manager Matt Williams after the game: On the win: "Gio (Gonzalez) threw the ball really well against a really tough lineup. (Ian Desmond) hung in there on that last one, too. Aggressive takeout slide, but he hung in there and completed it. It was good." On Desmond scoring the go-ahead run in the seventh on a Michael Wacha wild pitch that got by Yadier Molina: "You never see a ball get away from Yadi. Ever. But that's heads-up baserunning and aggressive baserunning, and overall they played it really well. ... "It's difficult to score against (Wacha). It's hard. Especially with the stuff he's got, and with Yadi. Like I said, the ball never gets away from Yadi. But that one was far enough and Desi made the decision instantly to get toward the plate and then we were able to pick up the other one on the bad throw." On the decisiveness from Desmond on the ball in the dirt: "I think he read it correctly. I think he was anticipating a ball in the dirt, certainly after the first strike that he threw Zach (Walters), a changeup, there was a chance he would throw another one there. He was decisive and went immediately." On the thinking when he took out Tyler Clippard and went to Drew Storen with two on in the eighth: "Just, that's a lot of pitches. (Matt) Holliday's numbers are not as good against Drew. It was just a lot. If we want (Clippard) available tomorrow, he's going to run into 30-plus. It's just not a favorable matchup. One-for-two off of Clip, better matchup off of Drew, and the ability to potentially have (Clippard) tomorrow, too." On Storen's performance: "He was good, aggressive. He threw his fastball where he wanted to and that's important for him. He was good. ... Drew has closed before, so he understands those types of situations. He's been the guy in the ninth inning and he's comfortable in the seventh, eighth or ninth. I would imagine there will be a time this year where Sori (Rafael Soriano) has thrown three in a row and not available where Drew will have to close it out, too. He's ready for the ball at any time." On Gonzalez's strong outing: "They get guys on base, they are a good hitting club. They do things right. They got a leadoff guy on second base and got him to third, but he got out of there with one so that's good. He was aggressive in the strike zone, good fastball tonight, threw his curveball occasionally to keep them off-balance." On how Denard Span's rehab game went tonight: "He had three at-bats tonight. He's all good to go. He's going to come back here tonight and we'll evaluate tomorrow. He was good tonight."