ST. LOUIS _ The Cardinals gained a couple of extra at-bats thanks to a blinding sun in the seventh inning Wednesday, and Matt Wieters made Washington's Max Scherzer pay.
Making his first appearance since Aug. 31, Wieters hit a two-run, pinch-hit home run to give the Cardinals some breathing room in what turned out to be a 5-1 win.
The Cards scored three times in the seventh after left fielder Juan Soto lost a Paul DeJong fly ball that turned into a double. Tommy Edman singled in DeJong before Wieters hit his 11th homer of the season and ended Scherzer's day.
Adam Wainwright (13-9) pitched seven innings and allowed only an unearned run in the seventh. He kept the Nationals quiet despite allowing eight hits.
Edman hit a solo home run in the third inning in his first career at-bat against Scherzer (10-7). He also threw a runner out at the plate in the second when the game was still scoreless.
Dexter Fowler made the play of the game when he took a three-run homer away from Asdrubal Cabrera in the eighth inning, reaching above the fence in right field to make a catch. That more than made up for his error in the seventh that paved the way for a run.
The Cardinals started the day with a two-game lead over the Cubs and the Brewers in the NL Central. Both teams play night games. The Cards start a four-game series at Chicago on Thursday.
The Cardinals took a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning when Matt Carpenter opened with a double. He moved to third base on a ground out by Yadier Molina, and was then replaced by pinch-runner Harrison Bader.
DeJong followed with a chopper to the left of Scherzer. Bader broke for the plate immediately and Scherzer threw to first for the out.
The Nationals put runners on base in every inning except the third against Wainwright. They left a runner at second in the first inning, had Victor Robles thrown out at the plate in the second, left a runner at third in the sixth and left a runner at second in the seventh after scoring.
Carlos Martinez pitched 1 1/3 innings to record his 21st save.
