Nolan Gorman and Lars Nootbaar hit back-to-back homers in the sixth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Washington Nationals 6-2 Friday night.

Washington’s Juan Soto went 1 for 4 in what could be his final homestand with Tuesday’s trade deadline looming. The Nationals were 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position.

Miles Mikolas (8-8) allowed two runs in seven innings for St. Louis, which won consecutive games for the first time since July 15-16.

Aníbal Sánchez lost his third consecutive start for Washington, which has a majors-worst record of 34-67.

Sánchez (0-3) pitched into the sixth inning for the first time this season, and nearly escaped trailing just 3-1. Gorman hit a two-run homer to right on a full count to break the game open. The rookie has four home runs in his last 10 games and 11 on the season.

Nootbaar then went deep on a liner to right-center to end Sánchez’s night.

UP NEXT
Cardinals: RHP Dakota Hudson (6-6, 4.10 ERA), who is 2-1 with a 2.93 ERA in six lifetime appearances against Washington, will come off the injured list to start Saturday.
Nationals: RHP Erick Fedde (5-7, 4.95), who is 0-2 with a 7.11 ERA, 11 strikeouts and 13 walks in four July starts, draws the start as the series continues.
Game time is 6:15 this evening.