The future is…getting here: Drew Storen made his major-league debut last night.
(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Cardinals 6, Nationals 2: Much-touted reliever Drew Storen — who, if all goes to plan, will be closing every Stephen Strasburg win in a couple of years — made his major-league debut last night and didn’t allow a hit, getting a big strikeout of Matt Holliday with two on; but the Nationals still lost their fourth in a row last night against St. Louis, 6-2. Aside from embracing Storen’s first big league action, the easy thing to do would be to precipitously write off the current four-game tumble as the team finally crashing down to Earth after a fortunate first few weeks — and with a Pythagorean expectation of only 18-21, some will certainly do this. But there are mitigating factors at work here. Last night’s loss is Washington’s eighth road game of a tough nine-game span, one of the longest stretches away from home the Nats will embark on all season. (Only ten-game swings between May 25 – June 3 and July 16-25 are longer road trips this year.) And there’s not many places tougher to finish out an exhausting trip than the Gateway to the West: St. Louis is one of the better teams in the majors at home and has quietly been one of the stingiest teams in the National League. Plus, you know, there’s that Pujols guy. The reigning MVP went three-for-three and scored twice, while others surrounding him in the Cardinal lineup pitched in; Washington’s lineup offered no such help in the proximity of Ian Desmond, whose four-hit night went mostly to waste.