Goldschmidt and Burleson go deep to back Mikolas as Cardinals blank Nationals 6-0

WASHINGTON (AP) — Paul Goldschmidt and Alec Burleson homered, Miles Mikolas pitched into the seventh inning and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Washington Nationals 6-0 on Monday.

Burleson drove in three runs for the Cardinals, who took three of four games in the series and have won six of eight overall. St. Louis is 33-18 since Mother’s Day, good for second-best in the majors behind Cleveland (32-16).

Goldschmidt’s 12th homer of the season came off left-hander Mitchell Parker in the fourth. The 36-year-old slugger has 352 career home runs, tying Ryan Braun and Ellis Burks for 96th place in big league history. He needs 11 hits to reach 2,000.

Burleson had a two-run single and his 14th homer. He hit .300 (9 for 30) with two home runs on the road trip.

Mikolas (7-7) scattered six hits over 6 1/3 innings for his first win at Washington since July 29, 2022. The right-hander has won four of his last five decisions since June 5. He has gone six or more innings in 12 of 19 starts this season. A change in arm angle has helped the movement on his sinker.

“Very important,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said before the game. “It’s allowed for more action on the sinker, kind of later bite to it, what’s led to softer contact. So it’s been good.”

Brendan Donovan went 2 for 4 with an RBI double, extending his on-base streak to 21 games — tied with Phillies star Bryce Harper for the longest active streak in the majors. Donovan is batting .375 (21 for 56) in 15 career games against Washington.

Parker (5-5) gave up two runs — one earned — and six hits over seven innings. He walked one, struck out six and threw 63 of his 91 pitches for strikes.

The Nationals completed a 3-5 homestand and have lost 10 of 14 overall.

Burleson's solo homer made it 3-0 in the eighth, and Goldschmidt scored on Donovan's double. Burleson added a two-run single in the ninth.