Matt Albers' debut as advertised after solid spring

Right-hander Matt Albers made his season and Nationals debut a memorable one with two scoreless innings to bridge the middle of the game to the final two innings in a 14-6 win over the Cardinals.

Albers struck out the first batter he faced, Randal Grichuck. He fought through a Stephen Drew error to strike out Dexter Fowler to end the inning.

In the seventh, he allowed a one-out single to Matt Carpenter. But a hotshot liner to right field by Stephen Piscotty was turned into a double play as Bryce Harper was able to fire the ball back in and get Carpenter reaching back to first base.

"Oh, yeah, he did a great job for us, manager Dusty Baker said last night. "He was throwing strikes, quality strikes. I think he had like a 4- or 5-to-1 ratio of strikes to balls. And he continued what he did in spring training. Usually, that doesn't happen sometimes. It was good to beat the Cardinals. First time we beat them in about seven tries, including spring training. I don't think we beat them at all in spring training."

Albers threw 25 pitches Monday night, 19 for strikes.

During spring training, Albers went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 10 games for the Nats.

"I felt good. I think I just added on to how I felt in spring. I felt good coming in. Obviously, the bullpen has been a little taxed here in the last series or so. So, any time I can pick up a couple of innings was good. Be a part of a win too."

Baker spoke before the series started about the Cardinals' run against the Nats in spring training, in which St. Louis went 7-0-1. Albers faced the Cards a lot in spring training, which helped him figure out a way to get them out in a game that counted.

"I saw them in spring," Albers said. "I think I pitched against them in spring like four times. It was good to get out there, felt comfortable and hopefully I can keep it going."

Albers pitched for the Orioles from 2008 to 2010. Catcher Matt Wieters made his debut with the Orioles in 2009, appearing in 96 games and hitting .288 with nine homers and 43 RBIs. Wieters said Albers reminded him of the same pitcher who was getting guys out with his low-zone offerings that were difficult to drive.

"He's been very similar since I've known him for eight years now," Wieters said. "He came over the same year as my first spring training in Baltimore. That's the great thing about Matty, he knows he is a sinker/slider guy who can mix in his changeup, but that's effective at this level. That's why these guys like that don't really have to do much different. He makes hitters choose which way they want to go, and he tries to go the opposite way."

Albers allowed only two base runners in those two innings, one courtesy of the Drew miscue.

"I was pretty pleased with my slider yesterday," Albers said. "I feel like my sinker was down in the zone, could throw it to both sides. My slider was keeping them off balance a little bit. I think I just threw one changeup. Just keeping the ball down in the zone is a big thing for me. If they hit, hopefully it's just a single and can get one pitch away from getting out of it."