The St Louis Cardinals’ bats came alive Thursday, July 10 in the series finale against the Washington Nationals, collecting ten hits as the Redbirds prevailed 8-1 at Busch Stadium.

The Cardinals got their first three batters on base, capped by Alec Burleson’s grounder that scored Brendan Donovan. Burleson added another RBI in the third, when he singled in Donovan. The Cardinals would extend their lead decisively in the sixth inning with RBI singles by Nolan Arenado and Yohel Pozo, along with a grounder by Victor Scott II and a sacrifice fly by Donovan. Masyn Winn capped the five-run inning off with a double to score Scott. The Cardinals wrapped up their scoring with a Willson Contreras home run in the seventh, while Washington’s only run came in the top of the eighth, after the second leg of a double-play was overturned on a successful Nationals challenge.

Miles Mikolas rebounded from his last outing, striking out six and limiting the Nationals to two hits and a walk across 5.2 innings.

The win is the 50th for Saint Louis this season, as the Cardinals now sit a game behind San Francisco for the third wild card spot and 5.5 behind the Cubs for the NL Central lead. The Cardinals now prepare for the arrival of another NL East foe, the Atlanta Braves. Matthew Liberatore will get the start Friday, with first pitch at 7:15 p.m.

The Royals were off Thursday, ahead of their three-game series against the New York Mets, whom the Royals defeated in the 2015 World Series. Michael Wacha will get the start for KC on Friday evening at Kauffman Stadium, with first pitch at 7:10 p.m. Pregame coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. on KMMO-FM 102.9.