After a game in which they failed to get an extra base hit, The St. Louis Cardinals flexed their muscles on Monday.

The Cardinals scored seven runs in the first four innings en route to an 12-4 thumping of the Washington Nationals, evening the best of five National League Division Series at one game apiece.

The Cardinals blasted four home runs, two by Carlos Beltran, while pounding out 13 hits, seven of which went for extra bases.

Trailing 1-0 in the second inning, the Cardinals scored three times in the bottom of the second, got another on an Alan Craig home run in the third and got two more in the fourth, including a home run by Daniel Descalso.

The Nationals got home runs from Adam Laroche and Ryan Zimmerman, but the Cardinals put the game away with four runs in the eighth.

Lance Lynn relieved Jaime Garcia after just two innings and picked up the win.  Jordan Zimmerman lasted just three innings in taking the loss.

The series is now tied 1-1 and will shift to Washington for games three, four and, if necessary, five.

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