It may not have counted, but that shouldn’t make Wednesday’s loss any less embarrassing for the Nationals, who may as well have been playing an entirely different sport than the Cardinals. Veteran Anibal Sanchez ran into a buzz-saw against St. Louis, yielding 10 runs—eight of them in the first two frames—on 12 hits, including a solo blast courtesy of All-Star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. That was one of four hits on the afternoon for Goldschmidt, who leads the majors in batting average this spring (.526).
The Cardinals saved their best for last, pummeling the Nats for 15 runs in the eighth inning. In total, the Cards sent 19 men to the plate, collecting 10 hits (three for extra bases), two walks and two HBPs while also taking advantage of two errors. Nine of those runs were charged to right-hander Curt Cavalli, who saw his spring ERA balloon to 14.04 as a result of Wednesday’s meltdown.
Though he didn’t account for any of their 29 runs, Albert Pujols did register a hit, going 1-for-3 in his Grapefruit League debut for St. Louis. Pujols, who enters 2022 (which he announced will be his final season) 21 homers shy of 700 for his career, signed over the weekend, returning to the team he spent his first 11 seasons with.
It’s been a rough couple weeks for the Nationals (1-10), though, fortunately, spring training results are rarely indicative of what’s to come in the regular season. In fact, the team with the worst Grapefruit League record last year went on to reach the World Series, with Houston cruising to an AL pennant after a dismal 6-14 showing in exhibition play.
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