Paul Goldschmidt's walk-off homer gives the Cardinals a 4-3 win over the Nationals

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Paul Goldschmidt hit a game-ending homer in the ninth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Washington Nationals 4-3 on Sunday to snap a three-game skid.

Leading off the ninth, Goldschmidt hit a 2-2 sinker from Dylan Floro (3-3) into the left field stands for his 16th homer of the season and eighth career walk-off shot.

“I was just trying to get on base,” Goldschmidt said. “There’s been a lot of times this year, way more often than not, that I have not come through in the ninth or extra innings. So, I’m just thankful to be able to get the job done today.”

It was the Cardinals' second walk-off win of the season and first since Nolan Gorman homered on April 22 against Arizona.

“I called the walk-off homer,” Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras said. “We needed it. He needed it. Everybody needs it. It was just a good game. We battled, tough innings, but we never gave up.”

John King, Andrew Kittredge and Ryan Helsley (4-2) combined to pitch three innings of scoreless relief. Starter Miles Mikolas allowed three runs on seven hits in six innings.

“You're trying to make a push at this time of year,” Mikolas said. “It was a big spot for me coming out here, keeping it close, giving us a chance. We played some great defense.”

Rookie Washington starter DJ Herz allowed two runs on three hits and struck out eight in five innings.

“He didn't rely on his offspeed stuff,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “He got ahead and stayed with the fastball which was good. Our reports were to try to get the ball up on some of those guys, and he did a great job.”

Contreras homered for the Cardinals on the first pitch he saw from Herz the first inning, his 13th of the season. It was Contreras’ fifth homer in his last eight games against Washington.

Michael Siani hit an RBI single that deflected off the glove of Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams in the seventh to tie the game at 3-all.

“The two-out walks hurt us today," Martinez said. “Overall, I can't be really disappointed because we played really well this series against a really good team, too. We just have to come back tomorrow and go 1-0.”

James Wood tripled to right field to lead off the sixth inning and scored on Juan Yepez’s sacrifice fly to right to put Washington ahead 3-2.

Lane Thomas drove in Jacob Young with his second double of the game to tie the game at 2-all in the third.

Pedro Pagés tripled to right-center field to put St. Louis ahead 2-0 in the second and extend his hitting streak to 13 games.

ROSTER MOVES

Nationals: Traded OF Jesse Winker to the New York Mets for minor league RHP Tyler Stuart. OF Alex Call was recalled from Triple-A Rochester.

Cardinals: Recalled RHP Kyle Leahy from Triple-A Memphis and designated RHP Giovanny Gallegos for assignment.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: LHP Steven Matz (lower back strain) will throw up to two innings and 40 pitches when he begins a minor league rehabilitation assignment Thursday.

UP NEXT

Nationals: LHP Mitchell Parker (5-6, 4.34 ERA) opposes Diamondbacks LHP (7-5, 6.11 ERA) in the opener of a three-game series at Arizona on Monday night.

Cardinals: RHP Andre Pallante (4-4, 3.92 ERA) will face RHP Nathan Eovaldi (7-4, 3.31 ERA) in first game of a three-game series against the visiting Texas Rangers Monday on night.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

St. Louis Cardinals' Willson Contreras celebrates after hitting a solo home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals Sunday, July 28, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals Sunday, July 28, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Washington Nationals' Lane Thomas doubles during the first inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Sunday, July 28, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

St. Louis Cardinals' Pedro Pages celebrates after hitting an RBI double and advancing to third on a fielding error by Washington Nationals right fielder Lane Thomas during the second inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 28, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Washington Nationals' Lane Thomas rounds first on his way to an RBI double during the third inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Sunday, July 28, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

St. Louis Cardinals' Paul Goldschmidt celebrates after hitting a solo walk-off home run to defeat the Washington Nationals 4-3 in a baseball game Sunday, July 28, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

St. Louis Cardinals' Paul Goldschmidt is congratulated by teammates Pedro Pages (43) and Lars Nootbaar (21) after hitting a solo walk-off home run to defeat the Washington Nationals 4-3 in a baseball game Sunday, July 28, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

St. Louis Cardinals' Paul Goldschmidt follows through on a walk-off home run to defeat the Washington Nationals 4-3 in a baseball game Sunday, July 28, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

St. Louis Cardinals' Paul Goldschmidt rounds the bases after hitting a solo walk-off home run to defeat the Washington Nationals 4-3 in a baseball game Sunday, July 28, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

St. Louis Cardinals' Paul Goldschmidt, right, is congratulated by teammate Pedro Pages (43) after hitting a solo walk-off home run to defeat the Washington Nationals 4-3 in a baseball game Sunday, July 28, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Ja’Quinden Jackson ran for 147 yards and a touchdown and Taylen Green picked up 96 yards on the ground with two scores as Arkansas beat Alabama-Birmingham 37-27 on Saturday.

Jackson’s score, a 16-yard dash early in the third quarter, broke a 20-all tie to give Arkansas (2-1) its first lead. UAB had little answer for him whenever he ran the ball as his yardage total came on just 15 carries.

Green, Arkansas’ starting quarterback, countered his sub-par throwing day with his rushing results. He tied the game at 17 in the third quarter on a 14-yard touchdown and provided a 9-yard insurance touchdown with 3:38 left after Arkansas had taken a three-point lead. In the air, he was just 11 of 26 for 161 yards with an interception.

The Blazers (1-2) led 17-3 early in the second quarter, having scored on their first three drives. The second drive needed to go only 15 yards after Green was intercepted in his own red zone. Jared Zeno, who threw three touchdown passes for UAB, found Kam Shanks for a 15-yard score to put Arkansas down by a touchdown before Zeno connected with Amare Thomas for a 34-yard score on the next drive to make it a two-score game.

Arkansas scored five of the next six times as Braylen Russell added a rushing touchdown and Kyle Ramsey made two field goals to provide the Razorbacks with a 30-20 lead in the fourth quarter. Zeno found Dallas Payne for his third touchdown of the game midway through the fourth before Green led the 7-play, 75-yard drive that ultimately proved the game-changer.

Jackson, a Utah transfer, became the first Arkansas player with 100-yard games in each of his first three in a Razorbacks uniform since Alex Collins in 2015. Collins, Arkansas’ second-leading rusher in school history, died last year in a motorcycle wreck. He was honored during the game along with other members of the 2024 Arkansas Hall of Honor.

UAB is likely neither as bad as the team that lost to Louisiana-Monroe in Week 2 by 26 points nor as good as the team that lost to Arkansas by 10 on Saturday. The Blazers’ ride in the AAC could be just as chaotic.

Arkansas wasn’t especially impressive, but after last year’s 4-8 season and last week’s double-overtime loss to Oklahoma State, putting a team away in a close game is a large step forward.

UAB hosts Navy in AAC play on Saturday.

Arkansas travels to Auburn to open the SEC schedule on Saturday.

UAB wide receiver Kam Shanks (8) slips past Arkansas defensive back TJ Metcalf (18) to score a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Fayetteville, Ark. (AP Photo/Michael Woods)