Cardinals rout Nationals to seize series lead

Pete Kozma smacked a three-run home run to help power reigning World Series champion St. Louis to an 8-0 victory Wednesday over Washington to grab the lead in their Major League Baseball playoff series. The Cardinals seized a 2-1 edge in the best-of-five National League divisional series with game four Thursday at Washington and a fifth game, if needed, at the US capital on Friday. The winner will face either San Francisco or Cincinnati for a berth in the World Series final. Washington had not hosted a playoff game since 1933 and fans were excited that the winningest team in the major leagues was the Nationals, who moved from Montreal in 2004 after the city's prior clubs relocated to Minnesota and Texas. But enthusiasm fizzled as the Cardinals took charge quickly and stayed in command to the end. St. Louis opened the scoring in the first inning when Matt Holliday hit a two-out single and scored on a double to left field by Allen Craig. Kozma's homer off Washington starter Edwin Jackson in the second inning gave the Cardinals a 4-0 lead. Yadier Molina scored on a sacrifice fly by Daniel Descalso in the sixth and Molina was issued a bases-loaded walk in the seventh to bring home another run for the Cardinals, stretching the lead to 6-0. Holliday added a two-run single in the eighth inning to produce the final margin.