The Cardinals’ on again, off again, shutout again offense roared in its rematch with Washington Nationals righthander Joe Ross. Five games after Ross riddled the Cardinals and set the stage for a run of frustrating games against righthanded pitchers, the Cardinals answered with 10 runs against him on the way to a 12-5 thumping at Nationals Park. Paul DeJong hit a grand slam to chase Ross in the fifth inning and give the Cardinals a 10-2 lead at the time.
DeJong finished with two homers and five RBIs to go with three runs, and it was his production in the middle of the order that made the Cardinals’ lineup relentless.