Cardinals' Leake deals shutdown hand to Nats

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.   Mike Leake tossed four strong innings and was backed by his teammates' bats Friday as the Cardinals defeated the Nationals, 7-1, at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.

In his third Grapefruit League start, Leake allowed only one hit — a solo home run by Bryce Harper — and logged his second consecutive four-inning stint that included two strikeouts and no walks.

The Cardinals grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the third when they loaded the bases against Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez on back-to-back singles by Eric Fryer and Dexter Fowler and a four-pitch walk to Kolten Wong. Jhonny Peralta then lofted a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Fryer. It was the first run that Gonzalez has allowed in three outings this spring.
Gonzalez called it a day after three innings, allowing one run on four hits with four strikeouts. He threw 51 pitches, 32 for strikes.

Fryer delivered a two-run single to left after the Cardinals again loaded the bases against Nationals reliever Trevor Gott in the fourth. The Cardinals added three more runs in the fourth to take a 6-0 lead, aided by a fielding error by Nats second baseman Stephen Drew and a wild pitch by Matt Grace. Two of the Cardinals' five runs in the fourth inning were unearned.
Harper hit his fourth home run of the spring, a solo shot to right-center field in the bottom of the fourth that put the Nationals on the board.

The Cardinals further padded their lead on an RBI triple by Breyvic Valera in the seventh.

John Gant, who was traded to the Cardinals in December, will face his former team on Saturday when the Braves travel to Jupiter, Fla., for a 12:05 p.m. CT game against the Cardinals. Coverage begins at 11:45 on KTLO-AM 1240.

   

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