ST. LOUIS -- Jayson Werth is finding his stroke for a team that wrapped up a big first month.
Werth's three-run home run capped a four-run first inning and Joe Ross had another stingy outing for the Washington Nationals in a 6-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.
"The way things have been going, I feel like I can't just catch a break," Werth said. "I think it got us going, it got me going. Hopefully I can build on that and we can get this thing rolling."
Ross (3-0) allowed 1 run on 6 hits in 6 innings, raising his ERA to 0.79. He has given up only two runs in 222/3 innings and bounced back nicely after skipping a turn because of a blister on his middle finger.
"I felt good, I felt pretty strong," Ross said. "There wasn't really like an inning or two of trying to settle in, so I think the time off, I guess, paid off for me."
Manager Dusty Baker said he just kept an eye on the right-hander.
"He got out of trouble a couple times and made some pitches when he had to," Baker said. "He wasn't on a pitch limit, he was kind of on a performance limit."
Werth added an RBI single in the eighth, his fifth in the first two games of a weekend series and 10th of the year, and raised his batting average to .211. With the victory, Washington clinched its first series victory in St. Louis since May 25-27, 2007. It goes for a sweep today after raising its record to 8-24 at 11-year-old Busch Stadium.
The NL East leaders are 16-7, their best start since moving from Montreal in 2005.
"You can't win anything in April, but you can lose it," Werth said.
METS 6, GIANTS 5 Michael Conforto and Wilmer Flores homered and host New York won its eighth in a row, building an early lead for Jacob deGrom and holding off San Francisco Giants.
PIRATES 5, REDS 1 Francisco Liriano won for the first time since opening day and John Jaso homered to open the bottom of the first as host Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati.
MARLINS 7, BREWERS 5 Adeiny Hechavarria had four hits, including one of four Miami solo home runs, to help the visiting Marlins beat Milwaukee. Giancarlo Stanton, Derek Dietrich and Marcell Ozuna also homered for Miami.
ROCKIES 5, DIAMONDBACKS 2 Trevor Story's two-run triple in the top of the ninth inning broke a tie, and visiting Colorado beat Arizona.
PADRES 5, DODGERS 2 Melvin Upton Jr. hit a tiebreaking two-run double in the fifth inning, and visiting San Diego also got RBI doubles from Wil Myers and Matt Kemp to beat Los Angeles. Colin Rea (2-1) allowed 2 runs and 4 hits over 6 innings in his Dodger Stadium debut.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ATHLETICS 2, ASTROS 0 Jesse Hahn (1-0) pitched into the seventh inning in his return to the majors and combined with two relievers on a four-hitter as host Oakland beat Houston.
TIGERS 4, TWINS 1 Jordan Zimmermann (5-0) won his fifth consecutive start to begin his first season with Detroit, and Justin Upton hit a three-run home run to help the visiting Tigers top Minnesota.
RAYS 4, BLUE JAYS 3 Curt Casali drove in the winning run with a single in the ninth inning and host Tampa Bay beat Toronto.
WHITE SOX 8, ORIOLES 7 Jose Abreu hit a tie-breaking RBI single in the ninth inning off reliever Vance Worley, leading visiting Chicago to a victory over Baltimore.
RED SOX 8, YANKEES 0 Jackie Bradley Jr. and Mookie Betts had three RBI apiece, David Ortiz homered again and host Boston shut out New York. Rick Porcello (5-0) had 6 strikeouts and gave up 5 hits in 7 innings to tie for the major league lead in victories.
RANGERS 7, ANGELS 2 Rougned Odor matched a Rangers record with three doubles, Mitch Moreland hit a three-run home run and host Texas benefited from another replay challenge in a victory over Los Angeles.
INTERLEAGUE
PHILLIES 4, INDIANS 3 Freddy Galvis homered and had the go-ahead single to lead host Philadelphia over Cleveland. The Phillies (14-10) have won eight of nine and are four games over .500 for the first time since they finished the 2011 season 102-60.
Sports on 05/01/2016