VIERA, Fla. •_Cardinals lefthander Marco Gonzales, whose 2015 season largely was a washout because of shoulder problems, had his best outing in a long time on Sunday. Facing the regular Washington Nationals lineup, Gonzales struck out three and allowed two singles in two scoreless innings of relief.
Gonzales fanned lefthanded-hitting Ben Revere, righthanded-batting Ryan Zimmerman and lefthanded-hitting Daniel Murphy. Last year, Gonzales, a postseason star for the Cardinals in 2014, won only one game, and that at the minor-league level.
The Cardinals trailed Washington 3-1 entering the sixth. In that inning, Cardinals center fielder Tommy Pham was lifted from the game after injuring himself stealing second with a headfirst slide.