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Nationals' starter John Lannan went five innings and allowed just two runs to the Cardinals, but was pulled because of a pitch count of 101. Manager Jim Riggleman opted to bring in reliever Chad Gaudin who struggled, in large part because of an Ian Desmond error.
Gaudin allowed three unearned to St. Louis after Desmond's error allowed Tyler Greene to reach first and Gerald Laird to go to third. The right-hander then walked Nick Punto and allowed an infield single to Ryan Theriot that scored Laird.
Doug Slaten was then brought in to face Colby Rasmus who singled off the lefty. Tyler Clippard put out the fire by retiring Albert Pujols.
The Nationals now cling to a 7-5 lead in the bottom of the seventh, but the Cardinals have two men on base with two outs.
