Cardinals vs. Nationals score: St. Louis leads 2-1 on lots and lots of walks

It might have looked like Gio Gonzalez was falling apart right there on the mound in the second inning, but in the course of allowing two runs during a no-hitter he was really teaching a national audience all about the value of walks and baserunners. At least, that's the out I'm giving him. Through five innings and one gamethread the St. Louis Cardinals lead the Washington Nationals by a score of 2-1.

Adam Wainwright's been just this side of sharp—he's got nine strikeouts and two walks through five innings, and his velocity is fine, but he doesn't seem to have perfect command of his sinker. Not that it's mattered; the Nationals only have the one timely hit out of four, a Kurt Suzuki RBI single in the second.

The Cardinals were patient, and Gio Gonzalez was wild, and it's gotten the Cardinals a couple of runs on one hit. But with Gonzalez over 100 pitches and, seven walks later, probably out of the game, the Cardinals will probably need to score some runs in the conventional way to stay ahead. Allen Craig popping his last pitch up with runners on second and third wasn't fun to watch.