WASHINGTON _ The only thing that proved more difficult to hold on to Monday night at Nationals Park than the ball for the home team was the lead for the visitors.
The Cardinals misplaced three leads and by the time the uneasy bullpen got involved Washington was in position to strike.
It got uglier from there.
With three hits from leadoff hitters Adam Eaton and a career-high four hits from Bryce Harper, the Nationals rallied thrice and feasted on the Cardinals' relievers for a 14-6 victory Monday night at Nationals Park. The Cardinals have lost four of their past five games, and the National League's best road team from a year ago brought a little of its home sickness with them. They lost their first road game of the season.
The Cardinals' bullpen allowed eight runs in the game.
Seven came in the eighth inning.
The Nationals attempted to help the Cardinals with four errors. But the Cardinals couldn't quell the single-by-single pitter patter of the Nationals' offense. By the end of the seventh inning, the Nationals had 15 hits, and 11 of them came off Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright. Eaton put the Nats ahead with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning, and Harper added an insurance run when he turned a bunt single into a run in the sixth inning.
The molasses pace of the game meant it was about 3 hours old when the Nationals extended their lead to two runs.
Trevor Rosenthal made his first appearance of the season. He pitched a flawless seventh inning. That was the only flawless inning of the game for the Cardinals. He struck out three batters, and he touched 100 mph with his fastball.
Jedd Gyorko was the only Cardinal to get into scoring position against the Nats' bullpen, and he did so in the ninth inning only as he rounded second and third after hitting a solo homer.
The Nationals had 19 hits. The Cardinals allowed that many once last season.
