Paul DeJong homers twice, Cardinals crush Nationals

April 20 (UPI) -- Paul DeJong homered twice and the St. Louis Cardinals provided a dozen runs for ace pitcher Jack Flaherty in a lopsided win over the Washington Nationals.

Flaherty allowed five runs and six hits, but earned his third win of the season in the 12-5 victory Monday at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. DeJong went 2 for 5 with five RBIs and three runs scored.

"We wanted to attack the fastball," DeJong told Bally Sports Midwest on Monday in a postgame interview. "We got some pitches to hit and didn't miss them.

"I thought we did a good job of pouring it on."

The Cardinals and Nationals were scoreless through the first frame. DeJong then stepped up for his first plate appearance in the third at-bat of the second inning. The veteran shortstop took a ball from Nationals starter Joe Ross on the first offering of the exchange.

He then ripped a 1-0 Ross sinker to left field for a 383-foot solo homer, which went landed inside of the foul pole. The Cardinals added another three runs in the third inning, courtesy of back-to-back homers from Tommy Edman and Paul Goldschmidt.

Matt Carpenter plated Dylan Carlson with an RBI single to give the Cardinals a 5-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning. Flaherty drove in another run with an RBI sacrifice bunt in the same frame.

The Nationals posted two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, but the Cardinals responded with five runs in the top of the fifth frame.

Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado each reached base with a single and double, respectively, in the first two at-bats of the half-inning. Ross then issued an intentional walk to Carlson to load the bases for DeJong.

The Cardinals infielder fouled off his first offering of that exchange. He hit the next pitch to left field for a 378-foot grand slam. That blast gave the Cardinals a 10-2 edge. Justin Williams hit another home run two at-bats later to push the Cardinals advantage to nine runs.

The Nationals scored three runs in the bottom of the next inning. Goldschmidt brought in the final run of the game with an RBI single in the top of the eighth inning.

Goldschmidt went 3 for 5 with two RBIs and two runs scored for the Cardinals. Edman and Williams had two hits apiece in the victory.

Ross allowed eight hits and 10 runs in 4 1/3 innings to drop to 1-1 on the season.

The Cardinals (8-8) face the Nationals (5-9) in the second game of the series at 7:05 p.m. EDT Tuesday at Nationals Park.

Veteran right-handed pitcher Adam Wainwright is expected to start for the Cardinals. The Nationals are expected to start left-handed pitcher Patrick Corbin.