INDEPENDENT MLB ANALYTICSINDEPENDENT ANALYTICS
ETLATYOBERLON
FinalFinal lineupsNL East / NL Central

Washington Nationals 8, St. Louis Cardinals 5

Final Score and Game Recap

Final score, pitching lines and standings context.

7:15 PM ET · Busch StadiumGame-day snapshot Sep 21, 2:02 AM ETFinal lineups lockedCurrent 2026 season stats — updated Oct 29, 5:00 AM ET
T-Score42
Washington Nationals
77–85 · 4th NL East · T-Score 42
8
8–5
FINAL · 11 innings
St. Louis Cardinals
77–85 · 4th NL Central · T-Score 34
5
T-Score34
FINAL · 11 innings
Pitching recap
PitcherTeamRoleIPHERBBKP
Andrew AlvarezWSH
Starter
6.0501892
Riley CornelioWSH
ReliefWin
1.2301233
Will DionWSH
ReliefSave
0.100002
Michael McGreevySTL
Starter
4.0521188
Gordon GraceffoSTL
ReliefLoss
1.0222134
Scoring by inning
1234567891011RHE
WSHWashington Nationals200001000148124
STLSt. Louis Cardinals000000201115142
Top hitters
Daylen Lile1-for-6 · 1 HR · 2 RBI
José Tena1-for-2 · 2 RBI · 1 R
Jorbit Vivas4-for-6 · 1 RBI · 1 R
José Fermín3-for-5 · 1 RBI · 1 BB
Pedro Pagés2-for-4 · 1 RBI · 1 R

Matchup at a glance

PitcherStat calculation
CategoryComparisonWhy
Starting pitcherNationalsThe starters are close overall, but Alvarez owns the better strikeout and control profile.
Offense vs handNationalsWashington has produced the stronger offense against right-handed pitching.
BullpenEvenThe two bullpens have produced similar season ERA and WHIP.
Recent formNationalsWashington has won 5 of its last 10 and owns the stronger recent run differential.
PowerNationalsWashington has 201 home runs this season, 43 more than St..

Pregame contextStarting pitchers

WSH
Andrew Alvarez LHP
Andrew Alvarez
Washington Nationals
2026 season (MLB rank among qualified starters)
ERA
3.35
48th
WHIP
1.27
109th
K/9
8.74
62nd
BB/9
4.15
186th
P-Score63i
FIP
–
HR/9
0.44
10th
OPS/R
–
IP
102.0
Last 5 starts
ERA
2.33
QUALITY
START %
40%
(2 of 5)
DAYS
REST
7
STL
Michael McGreevy RHP
Michael McGreevy
St. Louis Cardinals
2026 season (MLB rank among qualified starters)
ERA
3.83
98th
WHIP
1.24
105th
K/9
6.30
207th
BB/9
2.53
58th
P-Score52i
FIP
–
HR/9
1.13
96th
OPS/R
–
IP
160.0
Last 5 starts
ERA
5.46
QUALITY
START %
40%
(2 of 5)
DAYS
REST
6
How the starters differ
·Alvarez strikes out 2.4 more batters per nine innings.
·Alvarez allows the lower home-run rate: 0.44 vs 1.13 per nine.
·McGreevy walks 1.6 fewer batters per nine innings.
·Alvarez owns a 2.33 ERA over his last five starts, compared with 5.46 for McGreevy.

How the lineups match the starters' pitch mix

Pitch data coverage: partial. Usage and velocity only.

Alvarez arsenal
PitchUsageVelo
Curveball32%82.9
Four-seam28%92.3
Slider21%84.2
Sinker14%91.8
Changeup5%86.4
McGreevy arsenal
PitchUsageVelo
Four-seam25%91.9
Changeup20%87.0
Sinker16%90.8
Curveball13%78.6
Cutter11%87.6
Sweeper11%81.8
Slider4%83.6

Team OPS vs opposing starter's hand

Nationals vs RHP (Michael McGreevy)
10th
in MLB
0.731OPS
.600.700.800.9001.000
Cardinals vs LHP (Andrew Alvarez)
20th
in MLB
0.697OPS
.600.700.800.9001.000

Lineup strength vs today's starter

Weighted by batting-order spot. Season rates are regressed toward league average before they enter the model.

Updated Sep 19, 5:15 PM ET
WSHWSH
.739
+43 ptsOPS edge
STLSTL
.696

Clear edge: WSH

Full lineup comparison

Lineups

Final lineupsOrder from the stored snapshot; treat as unofficial until the card is filed.Full lineup page
#HitterPosH-ScoreOPSHRvs RHPVs McGreevy (BvP)
1James WoodLRF82.89130.9492-for-3Very small sample
2Daylen LileLLF61.72522.7780-for-2Very small sample
3Abimelec OrtizL1B36.5725.586No MLB historyNo history
4CJ AbramsLSS71.83333.8840-for-2Very small sample
5Dylan CrewsRRF52.66313.600No MLB historyNo history
6Jorbit VivasL3B41.6533.663No MLB historyNo history
7Andrés ChaparroR1B69.88513.880No MLB historyNo history
8Keibert RuizSC58.75910.750No MLB historyNo history
9Nasim NuñezS2B30.5351.5110-for-2Very small sample
1James Wood RF · L.265 / .891 · 30 HRvs hand .949 · 2-for-3 · Very small sample82H-Score2Daylen Lile LF · L.246 / .725 · 22 HRvs hand .778 · 0-for-2 · Very small sample61H-Score3Abimelec Ortiz 1B · L.188 / .572 · 5 HRvs hand .586 · No MLB history · No history36H-Score4CJ Abrams SS · L.261 / .833 · 33 HRvs hand .884 · 0-for-2 · Very small sample71H-Score5Dylan Crews RF · R.223 / .663 · 13 HRvs hand .600 · No MLB history · No history52H-Score6Jorbit Vivas 3B · L.238 / .653 · 3 HRvs hand .663 · No MLB history · No history41H-Score7Andrés Chaparro 1B · R.263 / .885 · 13 HRvs hand .880 · No MLB history · No history69H-Score8Keibert Ruiz C · S.280 / .759 · 10 HRvs hand .750 · No MLB history · No history58H-Score9Nasim Nuñez 2B · S.209 / .535 · 1 HRvs hand .511 · 0-for-2 · Very small sample30H-Score
St. Louis CardinalsOfficial lineupvs LHP Andrew Alvarez
#HitterPosH-ScoreOPSHRvs LHPVs Alvarez (BvP)
1José FermínRLF44.6646.747No MLB historyNo history
2Iván HerreraRDH64.73519.787No MLB historyNo history
3Jordan WalkerRRF76.79329.863No MLB historyNo history
4Leo BernalSC64.8075.647No MLB historyNo history
5Thomas SaggeseRSS47.6464.969No MLB historyNo history
6Masyn WinnRSS45.6255.745No MLB historyNo history
7Nathan ChurchLCF43.65410.596No MLB historyNo history
8Pedro PagésRC28.5874.490No MLB historyNo history
9Victor Scott IILCF26.5232.611No MLB historyNo history
1José Fermín LF · R.248 / .664 · 6 HRvs hand .747 · No MLB history · No history44H-Score2Iván Herrera DH · R.241 / .735 · 19 HRvs hand .787 · No MLB history · No history64H-Score3Jordan Walker RF · R.269 / .793 · 29 HRvs hand .863 · No MLB history · No history76H-Score4Leo Bernal C · S.284 / .807 · 5 HRvs hand .647 · No MLB history · No history64H-Score5Thomas Saggese SS · R.235 / .646 · 4 HRvs hand .969 · No MLB history · No history47H-Score6Masyn Winn SS · R.232 / .625 · 5 HRvs hand .745 · No MLB history · No history45H-Score7Nathan Church CF · L.247 / .654 · 10 HRvs hand .596 · No MLB history · No history43H-Score8Pedro Pagés C · R.217 / .587 · 4 HRvs hand .490 · No MLB history · No history28H-Score9Victor Scott II CF · L.193 / .523 · 2 HRvs hand .611 · No MLB history · No history26H-Score

Team comparison

OffenseWSHWSH·STLSTL
AVG.246 11th.239 22nd
OPS.744 3rd.691 28th
Home runs210 6th167 24th
Runs821 3rd720 16th
OBP.321 8th.313 22nd
SLG.423 3rd.378 29th
PitchingWSHWSH·STLSTL
1stMLB rank30th
ERA4.67vs4.26
WSHSTL
WHIP1.39vs1.36
WSHSTL
K/98.0vs8.0
WSHSTL
HR Allowed218vs158
WSHSTL
BullpenWSHWSH·STLSTL
1stMLB rank30th
Bullpen ERA4.36vs4.71
no league rank
Bullpen WHIP1.38vs1.36
no league rank
Saves42vs46
WSHSTL
ResultsWSHWSH·STLSTL
+4574th
Run differential
+34119th
77–85 Record77–85
5–5 Last 103–7
Last 10 games
Washington Nationals (5–5)
W
L
W
W
W
W
L
L
L
L
St. Louis Cardinals (3–7)
L
L
L
W
W
L
W
L
L
L
2026 head-to-head
Season Series
1—5
6 Games Played

Frequently asked

Who is starting for the Nationals?+
Andrew Alvarez (3.35 ERA, 2–6) is listed as the starter.
Who is starting for the Cardinals?+
Michael McGreevy (3.83 ERA, 7–9) is listed as the starter.
What time does the game start?+
7:15 PM ET at Busch Stadium.
Where is the game being played?+
Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Are the lineups confirmed?+
Not as official league cards. The orders shown are the current projected or last-posted lineups.
How have the Nationals and Cardinals performed head-to-head?+
Season series: Cardinals 5–1 this season.
How do the starters compare on P-Score?+
Andrew Alvarez is at 63; Michael McGreevy is at 52. P-Score is PitcherStat's 0–100 season index for qualified starters.