Cardinals score 4 in the 2nd inning for 4-1 lead

Boy, that lead didn’t last long.

In the top of the second inning, the Washington Nationals grabbed a 1-0 lead when Jaime Garcia gave up an RBI to his opposite number, Jordan Zimmermann. Garcia did recover and retired the next two Nationals.

But in the bottom of the second, the Cardinals opened with a flurry of hits:

Allen Craig - single (infield variety)
Yadier Molina - single
David Freese - double
Daniel Descalso - single

Even Craig’s hit was legitimate, as he drove a hard grounder off Ryan Zimmerman’s glove at third base. Those four hits resulted in two runs, and brought up Pete “Infield Fly” Kozma with runners on first and third and still nobody out.

Zimmermann applied a tourniquet by striking out Kozma, which brought up Jaime Garcia pinch-hitter Skip Schumaker! Yeah: after just two innings in which he’d given up just one run, Jaime Garcia got yanked. He’d walked three Nationals in those two innings, and Mike Matheny might even have recalled Garcia’s struggles last October.

Anyway, Schumaker shot a grounder toward left field, but Ian Desmond made a diving stop and threw out Schumaker while Freese crossed the plate with the Cardinals’ third run. And the Cardinals weren’t finished, as Jon Jay poked a liner down the third-base line to plate Descalso. Jay was out trying to stretch his hit into a double.

After two innings, the Cardinals are ahead 4-1 ... but their starting pitcher is already out of the game. Matheny’s going to have a lot of decisions to make.