Nats give up three homers in 7-5 loss to Cardinals

Nationals right-hander Doug Fister had never given up a leadoff home run in his previous 154 career starts. That streak ended tonight when Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter launched a Fister offering over the right field wall to give the Cardinals a quick 1-0 lead.

The Nats got a two-out double from left fielder Jayson Werth in the second, but Cardinals starter John Lackey struck out right fielder Bryce Harper to end the first. Harper's strikeouts continue to pile up, as that was his 21st in only 50 at-bats.

In the second, Fister gave up a two-out single to catcher Yadier Molina and then second baseman Kolten Wong followed with a two-run blast to right field.

The homers are the first two given up by Fister this season after being tagged for seven in just 22 2/3 innings in the spring.

Update: The Cardinals have now put runs on the board in each of the first three innings after first baseman Matt Adams doubled home right fielder Jason Heyward with two outs in the third. Two batters later, center fielder Jon Jay hit a grounder that skipped under first baseman Ryan Zimmerman's glove and into right field allowing Adams to \score. The error was Zimmerman's first on the season.

Update II: Fister helped himself by sparking a huge rally with a one-out single in the third. Lackey surrendered three straight base hits, as singles from center fielder Denard Span and shortstop Ian Desmond loaded the bases. Werth then followed with a sacrafice fly to right to plate Fister for the Nats' first run.

Harper negotiated his league-leading 13th walk of the season to the load the bases again before Zimmerman hit a sharp grounder that ate up Adams. As Adams lumbered to the bag, Zimmerman beat him in a footrace, allowing Span to come home safely.

That set the stage for last night's hero, third baseman Yunel Escobar, to grab the spotlight again. Escobar smoked a Lackey slider into the left field corner for a game-tying, bases-clearing double. The newcomer certainly has a flair for the dramatics.

Update III: Fister settled down and managed to get through six innings allowing five runs, four earned, on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

26-year-old rookie left-hander Matt Grace made his major league debut to start the seventh. Just called up from Triple-A Syracuse today, Grace was able to record three ground ball outs with a walk in the inning.

After a flurry of runs in the first three innings, both teams have remained scoreless through the past four.

Update IV: Nationals manager Matt Williams called on right-hander Blake Treinen to pitch the eighth. With one out, Treinen walked Cardinals center fielder Jon Jay. A single from Molina moved Jay to third, where he scored easily from after Wong laced a double down the left field line.

Update V: Right-hander Rafael Martin struck out the side in the ninth. Unfortunately, Adams sandwiched a titanic solo homer in between the whiffs to extend the Cardinals' lead.

Martin has struck out eight of the 11 batters he has faced in his two appearances.

Update VI: Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal set the Nats down in order in the bottom of the ninth to record his fifth save.

The Nationals fall to the Cardinals 7-5 as their record drops to 7-8.