Washington pushed across six runs in the third inning and hung on to beat St. Louis 8-6 Wednesday in the first game of a day-night doubleheader at Busch Stadium.

Leading 1-0, the Nationals peppered St. Louis starter and loser Jake Westbrook (1-2) with RBI singles by Jayson Werth, Ian Desmond, Laynce Nix and a double by Ivan Rodriguez. Desmond also stole home. Nix later added a solo homer, his second, in the eighth inning.

The beneficiary of the support was John Lannan (2-1), who has not given up more than three runs in four starts. Lannan allowed seven hits and walked three in five innings.

St. Louis got both of its runs against Lannan via solo homers, from Colby Rasmus, his third, and Albert Pujols, his fifth.

Washington used five relief pitchers to secure the win. Tyler Clippard pitched 1 1/3 innings and enticed Pujols, who represented the tying run, to fly to left field with a runner on base in the sixth inning. Drew Storen pitched the final 1 1/3 innings to earn his second save.

It was a frustrating day for St. Louis, which outhit Washington 14-10, but hit into four double plays.