NLDS Game 2, Nationals vs. Cardinals: St. Louis evens series with win

The National League Division Series is now all even after the Cardinals finished off Game 2 with a convincing 12-4 win over the Washington Nationals. Any hopes of a dramatic ninth-inning comeback were extinguished when St. Louis poured it on against reliever Sean Burnett, scoring four runs in the bottom of the eighth.

It looked like Washington would make a run in the late innings, but two rally attempts were quickly snuffed out by the Cards bullpen. Ryan Zimmerman added to his big afternoon in the top of the seventh, plating the Nats' fourth run of the night with a sacrifice fly that scored Jayson Werth to make the score 8-4 to St. Louis. However, Bryce Harper was gunned down trying to advance to third on the same play. With the bases clear, Adam LaRoche fouled out to end what was a multi-run threat.

Washington put two men on one inning later, but that rally attempt was extinguished by Mitchell Boggs, who retired Kurt Suzuki and Chad Tracy. In the bottom half of the inning, the Cards rocked Burnett, who gave up a double, a triple, and a homer to seal it. A Carlos Beltran two-run homer, his second of the day, was the big blow.

Edwin Jackson will now take the ball for a crucial Game 3, set for Wednesday afternoon in D.C.