ST. LOUIS -- Ryan Zimmerman's second homer Wednesday night gave him 200 for his career.

His next hit might have been the biggest of the Washington Nationals' up-and-down year.

Zimmerman's one-out RBI double in the top of the eighth inning Wednesday night snapped a tie and Washington held on for a rare win in St. Louis, edging the Cardinals 4-3.

Zimmerman's liner down the right field line scored second baseman Anthony Rendon, who worked an eight-pitch walk from reliever Jonathan Broxton (1-4) to start the eighth and reached second on a sacrifice bunt by center fielder Matt den Dekker.

"That was vintage Zim," Nationals manager Matt Williams said of Zimmerman's double. "He's seeing the ball really well and swinging the bat really well."

Zimmerman homered four times in the series and has seven in his last nine games, giving him 16 for the year. It was his second multi-homer game of the year and the 14th in his career.

Asked why he's been on such a tear of late, Zimmerman quickly demurred.

"I'd rather not talk about it," he said. "I'd rather keep going out there and doing it. The most important thing is the win."

Which Washington (67-65) salvaged after blowing 5-3 leads late in each of the series' first two games. The bullpen finally made a lead stick, with rookie Rafael Martin (1-0) earning his first big league win by getting the last out of the seventh.

Drew Storen fanned the side in the eighth and closer Jonathan Papelbon worked around a pair of singles in the ninth, whiffing center fielder Tommy Pham and inducing a game-ending bounce-out from second baseman Kolten Wong to bag his 23rd save.

St. Louis (86-47) lost for just the second time in 11 games despite outhitting the Nationals 16-8. But it managed just two hits in 14 at-bats with men in scoring position and stranded 13 runners, seven in scoring position.

The Cardinals touched Washington ace Max Scherzer for 11 hits over six innings, but dented the plate just twice. Scherzer walked none and fanned 10, often pumping his fastball three or four mph faster once men reached base.

"He's a totally different pitcher with men on base," St. Louis first baseman Brandon Moss said. "With no one on, he'll give you a pitch to hit. But with guys on base, he won't give you a pitch to hit. You just try to hang around and hope he'll make a mistake, and he doesn't make many."

Moss, whose three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth Tuesday night gave the Cardinals a dramatic 8-5 win, took Scherzer 454 feet over the St. Louis bullpen in right-center in the second to initiate scoring. That's the longest homer by a left-handed hitter in Busch Stadium III history.

But the Nationals used the long ball to gain traction against Tyler Lyons, making a spot start as the Cardinals opted to rest 15-game winner Michael Wacha. Right fielder Jayson Werth crushed a solo shot in the third, followed by Zimmerman's 441-foot blast over the bullpen in left-center an inning later.

After Pham's bloop single to right-center in the fifth plated right fielder Jason Heyward to tie the game, Zimmerman untied it with his milestone homer to start the sixth.

St. Louis took Lyons -- he pitched six innings, allowed six hits and three runs with a walk and six strikeouts -- off the hook in the seventh. Wong's two-out RBI single off reliever Matt Grace tied the game at 3.

But Washington, which saw center fielder Bryce Harper leave the game before the bottom of the fourth with left glute tightness, bounced back as Zimmerman delivered the hit it absolutely needed.

"Big win for us," Zimmerman said. "We played well the first two games but they're tough to close out. They're 40 games over .500 for a reason. We have to try to continue winning series."

NOTES: St. Louis recalled three more pitchers from Triple-A Memphis, including LHP Tyler Lyons, who started Wednesday night. RHP Miguel Socolovich and LHP Nick Greenwood also got the call. LHP Marco Gonzales, who was called up for a spot start Tuesday, was optioned back to Memphis. He allowed four runs in 2 2/3 innings against the Nationals in his lone major league appearance of the year. ... Washington recalled RHP Rafael Martin and LHP Matt Grace from Triple-A Syracuse to fortify its struggling bullpen. ... The Cardinals announced that RHP Lance Lynn (ankle) will skip his scheduled start Friday night against Pittsburgh, with RHP Carlos Martinez taking his place. Martinez missed his start Tuesday due to a sore back.