The Washington Nationals and the St. Louis Cardinals evened their first series of the regular season splitting their first two games.

Their finale game at Nationals Park would decide the series winner and the Nats managed to complete a huge comeback, winning with a walk-off sac fly in the ninth on their way to a 3-2 win in front of their home crowd.

The Cardinals managed to get an early lead in the second inning. Jhonny Peralta grounded into a double play but Matt Adams managed to score from third to put St. Louis ahead by one. Peter Bourjos added a second run in the fifth thanks to an RBI double from starter Shelby Miller and it seemed like the current NL Champions were well on their way to a solid win on the road.

However, the Nationals started their rally in the seventh. Adam LaRoche scored on an RBI single from Ian Desmond to pull one back and later Anthony Rendon crossed home plate on a single from Danny Espinosa to even things up quickly.

Things were quiet until the ninth inning but the Nationals completed their comeback off reliever Pat Neshek. After Desmond struck out swinging, consecutive hits from Espinosa and Jose Lobaton and a walk from Nate McLouth loaded the bases when Denard Span stepped up to the plate with one out.

Span battled with Neshek, fouled several pitches before sending a routine fly to right fielder Jon Jay. Espinosa tagged and score, to give Washington an unlikely – yet deserved – win in front of their crowd in a thrilling game that wasn’t decided until the end.

Both teams will continue their regular season journey tomorrow. The Nationals will host the Los Angeles Angels while the Cardinals will continue on the road, travelling to Citi Field to start a three-game series against the New York Mets.

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About the author
Juan Pablo Aravena
26-year-old Chilean sports journalist with three years of experience in different websites and platforms. Covering all four major sports for VAVEL USA, international soccer for VAVEL UK and Latin American Soccer for VAVEL LatAm.