ST. LOUIS (AP) — Austin Gomber learned plenty about pressure during a 15-game stint in the St. Louis Cardinals‘ bullpen earlier this season.The left-hander used that experience to his advantage on Wednesday night.Gomber tossed six shutout innings in his fourth start of the year Dave Henderson Jersey , Marcell Ozuna homered and the Cardinals won their season-high eighth straight game, 4-2 over the Washington Nationals.The Cardinals, who are 18-9 since the All-Star break, captured their sixth successive series after taking the first three of the four-game set.Gomber gave up three hits, struck out six and walked four. He wriggled out of a pair of jams while nursing a 1-0 lead.“I think being in the bullpen kind of helped me in these situations,” Gomber said. “Even when the bases get loaded, I never feel any panic. It’s just something that you’ve got to become more comfortable with.”Gomber ended his 99-pitch outing by striking out three successive batters after giving up a leadoff double to Bryce Harper in the sixth.“This guy gets after it,” St. Louis interim manager Mike Shildt said. “He’s not going to back down from anyone.”Gomber (3-0) struck out Michael A. Taylor looking with the bases loaded to end the fourth. He retired Anthony Rendon on a flyball with runners on first and third in the fifth.Daniel Murphy homered in the ninth for Washington, which has lost four in a row and seven of nine to fall below .500 and nine games behind the first-place Atlanta Braves in the NL East. The current skid began with a loss to the Cubs on a two-out http://www.athleticsfanproshop.com/authentic-dennis-eckersley-jersey , walk-off grand slam.“When you’re in a playoff race, we’ve got to score first, we’ve got to score early,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “We can’t squander the opportunities that we get and we’ve been doing that.”Ozuna homered in the second inning, his 14th of the season and his first since July 30, covering 62 plate appearances.Harrison Bader and Yadier Molina added run-scoring hits for St. Louis, which improved to 19-9 since Mike Matheny was fired and replaced by Shildt on July 15.Bud Norris pitched the ninth to pick up his 23rd save in 27 opportunities,St. Louis infielder Matt Carpenter extended his on-base streak to 33 games with a walk in the fifth. It’s the longest current streak in the majors. Carpenter left the game in the seventh after he was hit on the hand by a pitch from Matt Grace, but X-rays were negative.Carpenter does not expect to miss any time.“The pain and swelling started to go down a bit Santiago Casilla Jersey ,” Carpenter said. “I definitely dodged a bullet there.”Washington starter Jeremy Hellickson (5-3) left in the fifth inning after he fell on his wrist on a play at the plate following a wild pitch. Hellickson gave up three runs, two earned, on three hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out two and walked two.Hellickson realizes the Nationals’ chances of making the postseason are dwindling.“We’re going to need a lot of help, that’s for sure,” Hellickson said. “We’ve made it pretty tough on ourselves here.”Bader, who had three hits, also made a diving catch of a liner off the bat of Harper in the fourth. Bader scampered home on a wild pitch in the fifth inning for a 2-0 lead.“We’ve known all year that we’re capable of playing this type of baseball,” Bader said. “It’s nice to see it come out in between the white lines. Everything’s rolling together and we’re just going to try and preserve it the best we can.”The Cardinals, who have an NL-best 12-2 mark in August Clayton Richard Jersey , remain one game behind Philadelphia for the second wild-card spot. They are four games behind Chicago in the NL Central.TRAINER’S ROOMNationals: RHP Stephen Strasburg (pinched nerve in neck) threw a simulated game on Wednesday. He threw around 70 pitches and could be ready to return from the disabled list early next week, manager Dave Martinez said.Cardinals: LHP Brett Cecil was activated from the DL on Wednesday. Cecil, who had been sidelined with inflammation in his right foot, pitched four scoreless innings in four appearances with Triple-A Memphis. LHP Tyler Webb was optioned to Memphis.UP NEXTRHP Tanner Roark (7-12, 4.12) will face RHP Luke Weaver (6-10, 4.66) in the finale of the four-game series on Thursday. Roark has won his last four decisions. Weaver is 1-4 with a 5.13 ERA in nine career games against NL East foes. SAN DIEGO — Four weeks ago, it appeared this would be the weekend that the Arizona Diamondbacks would be locking up a playoff berth — and possibly the National League West title — at Petco Park in San Diego.Well, a strange thing happened en route to the postseason.Since being 74-60 and in first place in the National League West at the end of August, the Diamondbacks have gone 7-18 over the last 25 games. Division title — gone. Playoffs — gone.Article continues below ...The only thing the Diamondbacks are playing out now as they come to San Diego is the string. Meanwhile http://www.padresfanproshop.com/authentic-manuel-margot-jersey , the Padres have gone 11-12 since Arizona last led the West, including a two-game split with Arizona.The clubs’ final three-game series of the season begins Friday night with a match of left-handed starters — Arizona’s Patrick Corbin (11-7, 3.23 ERA) facing Padres rookie Eric Lauer (6-7, 4.60).Corbin has been a model of consistency over his first 32 starts this season for the Diamondbacks. His ERA in 20 starts before the All-Star break was 3.24. His ERA in 12 second-half starts is 3.22. His highest ERA for a single month was 3.82 in May.Corbin has 242 strikeouts in 195 innings with a 1.06 WHIP. Opposing hitters are batting .219 against Corbin this season with a .271 on-base percentage and a .339 slugging percentage.The 29-year-old has faced the Padres twice this season and 18 times in his career (13 starts).He is 6-7 during his career against the Padres with a 4.48 ERA, a .272 opponents’ batting average and a 1.38 WHIP. He has 95 strikeouts with 29 walks in 88 1/3 innings. Corbin is 2-4 with a 4.46 ERA, 1.314 WHIP and a .247 opponents’ batting average in nine appearances (six starts) at Petco Park, where he has struck out 40 in 40 1/3 innings.This season, Corbin is 1-0 against the Padres with a 4.50 ERA, a 0.92 WHIP and a .178 opponents’ batting average in two starts. He has allowed six runs on eight hits and three walks with 19 strikeouts in 12 innings. He has made one start at Petco Park this season and allowed four runs on six hits in six innings.Lauer Hunter Renfroe Jersey , the 25th overall pick in the first round of the 2016 draft out of Kent State, has made 22 starts during his rookie campaign. But only one of them came against Arizona. On July 5 at Chase Field in Phoenix, Lauer held the Diamondbacks to one run on seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts in five innings to pick up his fourth major league win.In four starts since returning from the disabled list on Aug. 30 — he missed a month with a forearm strain — Lauer is 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA. He has allowed four runs (three earned) on nine hits and seven walks with 19 walks in 19 innings.The Padres have won three of those four starts and are 8-14 in his 22 starts.On the season, Lauer has allowed 60 runs (54 earned) on 120 hits and 45 walks with 94 strikeouts in 105 2/3 innings for a 1.56 WHIP and a .285 opponents’ batting average. He is 2-4 at Petco Park with a 5.05 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and a .273 opponents’ batting average in 10 starts.