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WASHINGTON聽鈥� The gameplan against Washington National starter Trevor Williams going into the afternoon for Cardinals designated hitter Alec Burleson was not to take his role too literally and be willing to not hit when necessary.

Williams鈥� mix of pitches was absent the overpowering velocity, and Burleson did not expect to see a breaking ball so wily or counterintuitive that he couldn鈥檛 make contact. His specific, individualized plan was to look for something up in the zone and primed to drive or just ignore it and be willing to take a walk.

鈥淕uys like that are guys I can really keyhole,鈥� Burleson said.

His approach is what unlocked the decisive inning.

Burleson鈥檚 one-out walk in the fourth sparked a series of at-bats from young Cardinals hitters Pedro Pages and Victor Scott II that showed how individual areas of improvement could scale-up into team success. Burleson鈥檚 walk spurred a four-run rally that starter Andre Pallante and relievers JoJo Romero and Ryan Helsley held firm for the Cardinals鈥� 4-2 victory Saturday afternoon against Washington at Nationals Park. The Cardinals won their seventh consecutive game 鈥� their longest winning streak since 2022 鈥� because an opportunity at the plate in the second inning became a showcase of what they鈥檝e been working on in the batting cage since spring.

鈥淚 really like the order of that, right?鈥� manager Oliver Marmol said. 鈥淵ou look at what Burleson is trying to work on. We鈥檙e trying to get him to shrink the zone, not chase. That could have been an at-bat where he chases the changeup down and rolls into a groundball double play. He doesn鈥檛. Draws a walk. And then you have Vic going 0-2 to 3-2 and then lining that ball to left field. Prior to that you had Pages get his knock through the four hole. They just played baseball, right? The game is giving you something, and they鈥檙e taking it.鈥�

The rally began in the second inning when Williams plunked Willson Contreras to put him on base with one out.

Burleson ignored a changeup low and away. He did not chase after the backdoor sweeper that caught the outside edge of the plate because it wasn鈥檛 up, it wasn鈥檛 a pitch he could drive. Three more pitches low in the zone followed, and not one of them pulled Burleson out of his approach and into a groundball. He walked on a slider veering in toward him.

鈥淚f I stick to what I want to do, I can probably take a few more walks,鈥� Burleson said. 鈥淏ut I still go up there looking to swing.鈥�

It鈥檚 a shift the Cardinals have been working with Burleson to make, just as hitting coach Brant Brown and his group are working with Jordan Walker on his hand position or Masyn Winn on his rotation. Over the past week, Marmol has offered several examples to the media of what hitters are doing in their batting cage workouts to keep up with the challenge set forth during spring training 鈥� to be better in May than April and better in June than May and so on. Gifted with making contact, Burleson has been working on seeking hard contact, not settling for putting any old pitch in play.

Catcher Pages has been drilling on taking the ball to right field as a counter to how opponents are starting to pitch him.

Scott is improving with how he fights off a two-strike count.

Each of those things happened in the inning.

鈥淲hen you have an overall plan as a team and then you also have your individual plan and you string them together and keep the chain connected, that鈥檚 when those big innings happen,鈥� Burleson said. 鈥淵ou saw it actually happen in that inning. We strung at-bats together. Everybody did what they wanted to do in an inning and stuck to it and that鈥檚 what you get.鈥�

With two outs, Pages went the other with a pitch from Williams and poked an RBI single to right field 鈥� exactly that place he鈥檇 been talking about targeting. Williams got ahead 0-2 on Scott with back-to-back sweepers. Scott then fouled off two four-seam fastballs to balance the count.

Williams missed his next three pitches to from 0-2 to full count.

When he put a fastball over the plate, Scott lined it to left for an RBI.

鈥淓verybody has a different goal that they鈥檙e working toward and (the hitting coaches) helping us a lot individually 鈥� I think that鈥檚 coming into play right now,鈥� Scott said. 鈥淜nowing my offensive identity and knowing how I can get on base. That is what鈥檚 being shown out there. Just not willing to throw away an at-bat right there, saying, 鈥業鈥檝e got to beat this pitcher.鈥� That鈥檚 what kind of sparked that rally right there.鈥�

The punctuation on the four-run inning came as the Cardinals鈥� lineup turned over from No. 9 hitter Scott to leadoff hitter Lars Nootbaar.

Nootbaar tagged at two-run double.

Scott did what Scott had done all week and scored from first base for the 4-0 lead.

The pitchers handled the rest.

鈥淲hen you team puts up four runs in the second inning you can feel them kind of deflate with their at-bats,鈥� Pallante said of the Nationals. 鈥淭he offense did a great job of taking them out of it.鈥�

Pallante held that 4-0 lead through the seventh inning, adding to the Cardinals鈥� scoreless streak by their starters. Following Sonny Gray鈥檚 seven shutout inning Wednesday and Erick Fedde鈥檚 complete game shutout Friday, Pallante鈥檚 seven scoreless gave the Cardinals 23 consecutive from their starters. Pallante moved that stretch one out into the eighth before allowing a two-run homer on his final pitch. Romero finished that inning, and Ryan Helsley closed out the ninth with the tying run on second base and the bases loaded. Helsley secured his seventh save of the season with the Cardinals鈥� seventh consecutive win.

After the game, Pallante spoke as if he was one of the young hitters, and what he had to adjust individually before the game, what compass he set to follow.

Like Gray and Fedde before him, he wanted to be more assertive with his pitches. He turned to his four-seam fastball more aggressively and what followed was more zip on his sinker and effectiveness with it, too. Pallante (3-2) struck out seven, touched 97 mph with his sinker, and got 17 of his 25 outs without the ball leaving the infield. Pallante said some of his recent game-planning had been faulty and Saturday was a reminder of what he does well and where he gets better from there. A four-run lead let him lean into it.

Call it an improvement.

Add it to the list.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e starting to see some of these young guys understand what the opposition is trying to do to them, and they鈥檙e game-planning better,鈥� Marmol said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like the Burleson walk, Pages shooting the four-hole, 0-2 to 3-2 with Vic. Those at-bats earlier in the season go a little bit differently and you don鈥檛 have that rally for four runs. They鈥檙e starting to do a better job of understanding big picture and then coming together. That鈥檚 the part that has been fun to watch.鈥�