WASHINGTON -- After a streak of four homerless games, the Cardinals broke the skid with three long balls from Lars Nootbaar, Willson Contreras and Nolan Arenado to power past the Nationals, 6-1, on Sunday afternoon at Nationals Park to extend their winning streak to eight games. That is tied for the longest streak in MLB this season with the Twins and the Dodgers.
“The guys did a really nice job,” said manager Oliver Marmol. “There’s times when you need to string together hits, and there are certain guys that you’re going to try to slug against a little more. We were able to get them in the first at-bat of the game and then later with Contreras’ homer.”
On the fifth pitch of the game, Nootbaar turned on a fastball from MacKenzie Gore inside the zone and drove it to the second deck in right field with an exit velocity of 108.1 mph for his seventh career leadoff home run and his sixth homer this season.
“I saw four heaters and a curveball in that at-bat,” Nootbaar said. “[Gore] is more of a fastball/slider guy to lefties, so it kind of surprised me, but I just tried to get in a good count and put a good swing on the ball.”
St. Louis has scored within the first three innings in each of its past four games, and the early offense has been essential.
“We’ve done some good things with getting production from everybody in the lineup,” Nootbaar said. “When you add that with run production when guys are in scoring position and scoring early -- and obviously, our pitching staff has been unbelievable -- so it’s a combination of those three things.”
The outfielder had only one person in mind for who would receive the pink Mother’s Day bat he used to go deep Sunday.
“My mom,” Nootbaar said with a smile. “Anything she wants, she gets.”
Miles Mikolas toed the slab for the Cards, and he showcased his efficiency with 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball on four hits and one walk with five strikeouts. The Jupiter, Fla., native has gone at least five innings in each of his past four starts and has allowed one or fewer runs in three of them.
“I felt really good about my start,” Mikolas said. “I thought my fastball command was really good today and [I was] getting that ball down in the zone. We played some great defense, and the bats came alive late in the game.”
Contreras extended his on-base streak to 23 games in a major way in the second inning with a solo smash to the power alley in left-center that went a Statcast-projected 406 feet. Contreras’ streak ranks second among National League hitters this season to Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber’s 39-game on-base streak.
“Having early offense provides some momentum and confidence in how you go through the game, so being able to attack early has been good for us,” Marmol said.
The Cardinals were able to create separation with four runs over the seventh and eighth innings. St. Louis scored twice in the seventh on RBI singles from Yohel Pozo and Victor Scott II. The hit from Scott extended his career-high hitting streak to 11 games. Scott indicated what he’s seen from himself during his at-bats over that stretch.
“Maturity, confidence and growth,” Scott said. “I think those three words are the biggest things I think about when I get up to the plate.”
Arenado put a stamp on the game in the eighth inning when he launched a first-pitch fastball over left fielder James Wood and into the visitors’ bullpen for a two-run homer to put St. Louis ahead, 6-1.
“It was nice to see [Arenado] come through there with his homer and drive in a couple,” Marmol said. “We did a lot of positive things.”
The Cardinals are now 22-19 and one game behind the first-place Cubs (23-18) in the NL Central. On Monday, St. Louis will begin the second leg of its nine-game road trip with a three-game series at Philadelphia.
“We’ve played some really good ball lately, and it’s fun to be up,” Mikolas said.