Nationals beats Cardinals 11-1 in exhibition game

VIERA, Fla. -- As he warmed up in the bullpen for his second spring training start, Stephen Strasburg felt strong. Perhaps a little too strong.

The right-hander overcame a shaky first inning, and the Washington Nationals' offense came up big again in an 11-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.

Strasburg walked two and gave up an RBI single to his first three batters before settling down. He went three innings, allowing two hits while throwing 28 of 48 pitches for strikes.

"I got some good work in," Strasburg said. "I felt too good in the bullpen and then went out there and tried to paint the first pitch on [the black] instead of starting out with a little bit bigger zone and then working off the middle of the plate.

"I made a good adjustment and then I didn't see any problems."

Anthony Rendon homered and Wilson Ramos had two hits and three RBIs for the Nationals, who have 27 runs in their last three games. Washington scored four runs in the third inning, three on infield singles.

Allen Craig had two of St. Louis' three hits, including an RBI single. Cardinals starter Joe Kelly gave up five runs and seven hits over 2 1/3 innings.

While Kelly had a rough outing, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny wasn't entirely displeased.

"I thought he did a lot better job than what his line is going to look like," Matheny said. "It was just one of those days."

Noteworthy

* Cardinals outfield prospect Oscar Tavares made the trip to Viera, but his only action was shagging fly balls before the game. Matheny said Tavares felt tightness in his right hamstring during Saturday's game. Tavares is day to day.