WASHINGTON (AP) — By his own admission, Jack Flaherty has failed to control his frustration when he’s struggled early in games. But the Cardinals’ right-hander found a way to produce an outing Monday that was better than the numbers indicated.

Flaherty gave up five runs on eight hits before getting even five outs against the Nationals. To his surprise, he was still on the mound in the seventh inning with the lead.

Brendan Donovan and Paul Goldschmidt hit back-to-back homers in the fifth, and St. Louis rallied from that early 5-0 deficit to beat Washington 8-6 in a Juneteenth matinee.

“You’ve got to find ways to ignore what the scoreboard says, something I haven’t really done a good job of in the past,” Flaherty said. “Today was kind of the first time I’ve been able to do that.”

Donovan’s three-run shot to right-center off Josiah Gray (4-6) tied the game 5-all, and Goldschmidt put the Cardinals ahead to stay when he lined a hanging curveball from Gray over the wall in left.

The Cardinals (30-43) won their third straight since falling a season-worst 16 games under .500, but they still have their worst record through 73 games since 1990. St. Louis has only had one losing season since 2000, and manager Oliver Marmol said before the game his last-place team still expects to win the NL Central.

Flaherty (4-5), who came in leading the majors in walks with 43, issued his only free pass in the seventh. His outing ended one batter later when he hit Lane Thomas with a pitch. Flaherty gave up six runs for the second consecutive start but won for the first time since May 15.

The Cardinals may also have found a solution to their season-long problems at the back end of the bullpen. Génesis Cabrera got the final two outs in the seventh, Giovanny Gallegos worked the eighth and Jordan Hicks got three outs for his third save in three days while a big contingent of Cardinals fans stood and cheered behind their dugout.

“Any time I’m in the bullpen, that’s kind of the situation I’d like to be in,” Hicks said. “Feels good to be back out there and then the come-from-behind win was really fun to watch, getting to that point.”

Hicks, who blew his first two save opportunities this season and didn’t get another chance until he converted on Saturday against the New York Mets, struck out Thomas on a 103 mph fastball to end it.

“He made sure, he came and got me and said, ‘If it’s a save situation, you better hand me the baseball,’” Marmol said. “You can go to war with that guy any day. That’s what you want to hear.”

Luis García drove in four runs and Thomas doubled twice for the Nationals, who lost their fourth straight and fell to 3-12 in June. Washington could have done even more damage against Flaherty in the first two innings if not for two runners being thrown out on the bases.

“I don’t mind those at all,” manager Dave Martinez said. “I love the way we came out and played right away.”

St. Louis rookie Jordan Walker lined the first pitch he saw from Gray to center field for a single, extending his hitting streak to 12 games. The 21-year-old finished 2 for 4 and matched the 12-game hit streak he had to start his career from March 30 to April 12. Walker has raised his batting average from .253 to .302 during the streak.

The Cardinals began their rally in the third when Paul DeJong led off with a single and Tommy Edman hit a deep fly that glanced off the glove of backtracking center fielder Victor Robles for a triple. Goldschmidt’s RBI single got St. Louis within 5-2.

Gray allowed a season-worst six runs in five innings.

“He’s been pitching well. Just didn’t work out for him today,” Martinez said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Activated OF Lars Nootbaar (lower back contusion) from the 10-day injured list. He had missed 16 games. Nootbaar played right field and went 0 for 4 with a walk. … 1B Lucien Baker was optioned to Triple-A Memphis. … C Iván Herrera was added to the taxi squad. … LHP Packy Naughton (left forearm strain) will have season-ending surgery on June 26. Marmol declined to detail the procedure but said it would not be Tommy John surgery.

Nationals: 3B Jeimer Candelario was back in the lineup after missing Sunday’s loss to Miami with a bone bruise on his right thumb.

UP NEXT

The series continues Tuesday night with Cardinals LHP Jordan Montgomery (3-7, 3.91 ERA) opposing LHP MacKenzie Gore (3-5, 3.74).