Andre Pallante threw 7 1/3 strong innings, Lars Nootbaar drove in a pair of runs and the visiting St. Louis Cardinals survived a shaky save from Ryan Helsley to beat the Washington Nationals 4-2 on Saturday afternoon.

Pallante (3-2) allowed two runs on five hits, seven strikeouts and no walks for the Cardinals, who won their seventh consecutive game. St. Louis scored all of its runs in the second inning off Washington starter Trevor Williams (2-4).

Helsley retired the first two batters in the ninth but surrendered a single to Jose Tena then walked the next two batters. He secured his seventh save by getting CJ Abrams to fly out.

Williams allowed four runs on seven hits in six innings — his longest start of the season. He struck out four and walked one.

The Nationals’ runs came in the eighth on Dylan Crews’ two-run homer, one of only two extra-base hits for the team. They matched the Cardinals with seven hits overall but lost their fourth straight game.

After a scoreless first, Williams plunked Willson Contreras with a pitch and walked Alec Burleson with one out. Pedro Pages’ two-out single put St. Louis on the board. Victor Scott II then slashed an RBI single and Nootbaar drove in two with his ninth double of the season, giving the Cardinals a 4-0 lead.

Washington threatened in the fifth with Keibert Ruiz’s leadoff single and Jacob Young’s bunt hit with two outs, but Pallante escaped further danger by striking out Crews.

Cole Henry threw a perfect seventh in his 1 1/3 innings in relief of Williams, and Zach Brzykcy got the last two outs of the eighth.

Tena laced a single off Pallante to begin the bottom of the eighth, and with one out, Crews hit his fifth homer of the season, which halved the Nationals’ deficit and chased Pallante.

JoJo Romero relieved Pallante and immediately allowed Abrams’ double, but Romero retired Alex Call, walked James Wood and escaped trouble by getting Nathaniel Lowe to ground out.

–Field Level Media