Deadspin | Jordan Walker goes deep to help Cardinals topple Nationals 
Apr 8, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Alec Burleson (41) hits a 2 RBI single against the Washington Nationals during the second inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images Jordan Walker homered again, Alec Burleson drove in three runs and notched three hits and starting pitcher Michael McGreevy retired the final 10 batters he faced as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the host Washington Nationals 6-1 on Wednesday.
Walker hit his fifth home run of the season and three St. Louis relievers completed what became a combined four-hitter. McGreevy (1-1) worked six innings, yielding one run on four hits without a walk. He struck out one.
Walker moved into a share of the big-league lead for homers after smashing a long ball for the fourth time in a five-game stretch.
The Nationals, who have lost seven of their past eight games, never led. They completed a 1-5 homestand.
Starting pitcher Miles Mikolas (0-3) allowed two runs on five hits with three walks in three innings. He fanned three.
Washington’s James Wood went 2-for-4 to join Burleson as the only players in the game with more than one hit.
Matt Svanson, Justin Bruihl and Riley O’Brien pitched in relief for St. Louis.
The Cardinals, who stranded nine runners, struck first on Burleson’s two-run, two-out single in the second inning.
Washington scored its run in the third on Luis Garcia Jr.’s fielder’s choice grounder for the second out. He was the last batter before McGreevy began his stretch of notching outs on the Nationals’ next 10 batters.
Walker’s solo homer came with one out in the fifth off Brad Lord.
The Cardinals began the seventh with back-to-back walks, and Burleson followed with an RBI single. However, a strikeout and a double-play grounder allowed the Nationals to escape without additional damage.
St. Louis tacked on two runs in the ninth. After Walker walked to load the bases with two outs, Yohel Pozo delivered a two-run single.
The teams split the previous two games of the three-game series, with the Nationals prevailing 9-6 on Monday and the Cardinals claiming a 7-6 decision in 10 innings on Tuesday.
–Field Level Media
#Deadspin #Jordan #Walker #deep #Cardinals #topple #Nationals
Apr 8, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Alec Burleson (41) hits a 2 RBI single against the Washington Nationals during the second inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images Jordan Walker homered again, Alec Burleson drove in three runs and notched three hits and starting pitcher Michael McGreevy retired the final 10 batters he faced as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the host Washington Nationals 6-1 on Wednesday.
Walker hit his fifth home run of the season and three St. Louis relievers completed what became a combined four-hitter. McGreevy (1-1) worked six innings, yielding one run on four hits without a walk. He struck out one.
Walker moved into a share of the big-league lead for homers after smashing a long ball for the fourth time in a five-game stretch.
The Nationals, who have lost seven of their past eight games, never led. They completed a 1-5 homestand.
Starting pitcher Miles Mikolas (0-3) allowed two runs on five hits with three walks in three innings. He fanned three.
Washington’s James Wood went 2-for-4 to join Burleson as the only players in the game with more than one hit.
Matt Svanson, Justin Bruihl and Riley O’Brien pitched in relief for St. Louis.
The Cardinals, who stranded nine runners, struck first on Burleson’s two-run, two-out single in the second inning.
Washington scored its run in the third on Luis Garcia Jr.’s fielder’s choice grounder for the second out. He was the last batter before McGreevy began his stretch of notching outs on the Nationals’ next 10 batters.
Walker’s solo homer came with one out in the fifth off Brad Lord.
The Cardinals began the seventh with back-to-back walks, and Burleson followed with an RBI single. However, a strikeout and a double-play grounder allowed the Nationals to escape without additional damage.
St. Louis tacked on two runs in the ninth. After Walker walked to load the bases with two outs, Yohel Pozo delivered a two-run single.
The teams split the previous two games of the three-game series, with the Nationals prevailing 9-6 on Monday and the Cardinals claiming a 7-6 decision in 10 innings on Tuesday.
–Field Level Media
![Brandon Aiyuk’s 49ers divorce keeps getting uglier Brandon Aiyuk’s war of words with the San Francisco 49ers reached new heights on Tuesday.In a video posted to social media, Aiyuk blasted the organization as “stupid” for paying him, and “mad” at themselves for how the team was handling the situation.The video came after Aiyuk posted one over the weekend, where he called the 49ers “little-ass boys” who needed to “stop running from the bill.”The two videos are the wide receiver’s first lengthy public comments since the team placed him on the reserve/left team list back in December of last year. Aiyuk has not played in a game for the 49ers since midway through the 2024 season, when he suffered a torn ACL.Prior to the 2024 campaign, Aiyuk was a hold-in during training camp until he agreed to terms with the team on a new four-year extension worth up to $120 million.Head coach Kyle Shanahan, along with general manager John Lynch, continue to assert that Aiyuk has played his last snap for the 49ers. Speaking at the team’s end-of-season press conference in January, the coach indicated he had lost contact with Aiyuk, going on to say that “eventually you understand that it’s not going to change and you’ve got to move on with your football team.”On that January day, Lynch explicitly said that Aiyuk had “played his last snap with the Niners.”Then at the end of March at the league’s annual meetings, Shanahan maintained that stance, but did not put a timeframe on a resolution.“I don’t have a date for it, but I know eventually it’ll resolve itself,” Shanahan said in March. “Hopefully, we could get something for [him]. And I know we’re in no rush to do that. You’ve got to do what’s right for the Niners, and you’re not trying to hook up any other team as fast as you possibly can. Hopefully, we can get something for that, and it’ll take care of itself.”As far as what that resolution looks like, many believe Aiyuk will find a home with the Washington Commanders. Aiyuk played with Jayden Daniels at Arizona State, and over this past weekend did share a photos of himself wearing a Commanders hat.However, he is still technically under contract with San Francisco through the 2028 season. And while the 49ers did void the guaranteed money he was owed for 2026, the guaranteed money Aiyuk is owed for 2027 is still on the books.NFL insider Ian Rapoport addressed the situation on Monday.“First of all, here’s what the San Francisco 49ers would like: They have his rights, he’s not due any guaranteed money because he forfeited that by not showing up to his rehab,” said Rapoport. “So, they would like to trade him, probably to the Commanders, with his old friend Jayden Daniels and an organization that obviously knows him well, considering (Commanders general manager) Adam Peters was in San Francisco, and all that.“What the Commanders would like to do is sign him without having to trade him. … We’re in a situation where nobody wants to move at all. They’re all staring at each other. There’s really no deadline to make a move at all. So, until and unless everyone gets tired of Brandon Aiyuk sending Instagram messages, this is going to be a storyline that takes us through the summer.”Happy offseason, everyone. #Brandon #Aiyuks #49ers #divorce #uglier](https://i1.wp.com/platform.sbnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/gettyimages-2183567424.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C78.534031413613&w=1200&ssl=1 "Brandon Aiyuk’s 49ers divorce keeps getting uglier Brandon Aiyuk’s war of words with the San Francisco 49ers reached new heights on Tuesday.In a video posted to social media, Aiyuk blasted the organization as “stupid” for paying him, and “mad” at themselves for how the team was handling the situation.The video came after Aiyuk posted one over the weekend, where he called the 49ers “little-ass boys” who needed to “stop running from the bill.”The two videos are the wide receiver’s first lengthy public comments since the team placed him on the reserve/left team list back in December of last year. Aiyuk has not played in a game for the 49ers since midway through the 2024 season, when he suffered a torn ACL.Prior to the 2024 campaign, Aiyuk was a hold-in during training camp until he agreed to terms with the team on a new four-year extension worth up to $120 million.Head coach Kyle Shanahan, along with general manager John Lynch, continue to assert that Aiyuk has played his last snap for the 49ers. Speaking at the team’s end-of-season press conference in January, the coach indicated he had lost contact with Aiyuk, going on to say that “eventually you understand that it’s not going to change and you’ve got to move on with your football team.”On that January day, Lynch explicitly said that Aiyuk had “played his last snap with the Niners.”Then at the end of March at the league’s annual meetings, Shanahan maintained that stance, but did not put a timeframe on a resolution.“I don’t have a date for it, but I know eventually it’ll resolve itself,” Shanahan said in March. “Hopefully, we could get something for [him]. And I know we’re in no rush to do that. You’ve got to do what’s right for the Niners, and you’re not trying to hook up any other team as fast as you possibly can. Hopefully, we can get something for that, and it’ll take care of itself.”As far as what that resolution looks like, many believe Aiyuk will find a home with the Washington Commanders. Aiyuk played with Jayden Daniels at Arizona State, and over this past weekend did share a photos of himself wearing a Commanders hat.However, he is still technically under contract with San Francisco through the 2028 season. And while the 49ers did void the guaranteed money he was owed for 2026, the guaranteed money Aiyuk is owed for 2027 is still on the books.NFL insider Ian Rapoport addressed the situation on Monday.“First of all, here’s what the San Francisco 49ers would like: They have his rights, he’s not due any guaranteed money because he forfeited that by not showing up to his rehab,” said Rapoport. “So, they would like to trade him, probably to the Commanders, with his old friend Jayden Daniels and an organization that obviously knows him well, considering (Commanders general manager) Adam Peters was in San Francisco, and all that.“What the Commanders would like to do is sign him without having to trade him. … We’re in a situation where nobody wants to move at all. They’re all staring at each other. There’s really no deadline to make a move at all. So, until and unless everyone gets tired of Brandon Aiyuk sending Instagram messages, this is going to be a storyline that takes us through the summer.”Happy offseason, everyone. #Brandon #Aiyuks #49ers #divorce #uglier")
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