The Washington Nationals, having lost 18 of their past 20 games over seven years at Busch Stadium, should have known that their three-run, go-ahead burst in the seventh inning Monday night against Cardinals reliever Kevin Siegrist was way too early for them to be contemplating a rare victory here.
And they would have been correct to think that way. After Siegrist blew the save in the top of the inning on Ryan Zimmerman’s three-run homer, righthander Casey Janssen, with the help of lefthanded rookie Felipe Rivero, blew it back in the bottom half.
Five runs later, the Cardinals were on the path to an 8-5 win, saved by Trevor Rosenthal, fresh off paternity leave, that had an impact on two division races.