Coverage of today's Cards and Nationals game can be heard on Newstalk 97.3 WTIM beginning at 5:40pm.

St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Matt Adams went 2-for-3 with a home run in his return from the disabled list, and Lance Lynn bested Jordan Zimmermann  in a  classic  pitchers' duel that resulted  in a 1-0 St. Louis Cardinalsvictory over the Washington Nationals.

Lynn  (7-4)  took a  perfect game into  the sixth inning  and yielded just two singles  while fanning  eight through eight. Trevor Rosenthal finished off the shutout  by tossing a  hitless ninth to nail down the Cardinals' fourth win in five tries.

Zimmermann (5-3) was nearly as good in a complete-game effort that was spoiled by  Adams' blast  in the bottom of the second inning. The right-hander allowed only three Cardinal hits and a walk while recording five strikeouts.

In  a game  where both starting pitchers were lights-out, Adams -- playing for the  first time since straining his left calf on May 28 -- wound up making the difference in his first game back.

The  first  baseman belted  the second  pitch he saw  from Zimmermann into the stands in right-center for what turned out to be all the support Lynn needed.

Aided  by shortstop Jhonny Peralta's diving stab to throw out Jayson Werth and end  the  top of  the fourth,  Lynn set  down the  first 16 Washington hitters before  Jose Lobaton ended the bid with a single down the third-base line with one down in the sixth.

Lynn  came out  of the  inning unscathed,  then erased  Werth's single  in the seventh  by getting Adam LaRoche to ground into a double play prior to fanning two in a 1-2-3 eighth.

Kolten  Wong's error on a Denard Span grounder put the tying run aboard in the ninth,  but Rosenthal struck  out three hitters in the inning to earn his 18th save of the year.

Zimmermann  gave  up just one  more hit --  a single to  Adams in the fifth -- after  the  home run,  and induced  an impressive 17  outs on  the ground in a performance where he deserved a better fate.

                                   Game Notes

Lynn  had allowed  nine runs -- six earned  -- in just 8 1/3 innings in losing his  two  previous starts  ... The loss  was Washington's 16th  in its last 18 visits  to  Busch Stadium  dating back to  2008 ... Zimmermann  fell to 0-5 in eight  career  starts against St. Louis  ... The Nationals have now gone seven straight  games  without an error,  their longest  stretch since a 13-game run
from June 2-5, 2011.