Despite Kyle Lohse allowing just two hits and one walk in his seven innings pitched, the Cardinals and Nationals remained tied until the bottom of the ninth when a Jayson Werth home run broke the game's tie and gave Washington their second win of the five-game series.
The missed opportunity to take advantage of Lohse's strong performance was "not entirely unfamiliar" to Cardinals fans, though, according to Dan Moore of SB Nation's St. Louis Cardinals blog, Viva El Birdos:
"...the Cardinals' not-entirely-unfamiliar inability to score runs for an effective starter played up a little more sinister than usual in this particular context-it wasn't just the way they'd left the game tied, it was proof that they'd eventually lose it, having failed to properly appreciate what they had."
And what they had was a very strong pitching performance that was essentially matched by the performance of Ross Detwiler and the Nationals' pitching staff. Each team finished with three hits, although the Cardinals were walked five times compared with just two times for the Nationals.
Yet, a pair of solo home runs for the Nationals was enough to earn the victory, as St. Louis left eight runners on base compared with just two for Washington.