WASHINGTON — An opportunistic offense that conjured four runs in the second inning followed by another starter’s wizardry proved plenty for the Cardinals to continue their hex on the Washington Nationals on Harry Potter Day at the ballpark.

Lumos, Cardinals.

In a week, they’ve pulled a winning streak out of their hats.

Led by starter Andre Pallante’s echo of recent performances by his peers, the Cardinals took an early lead and held on through the late innings for a 4-2 victory Saturday at Nationals Park. The Cardinals extended their winning streak to seven consecutive — their longest since August 2022 and the longest active in the National League — and they’re unbeaten in five consecutive series with a chance to sweep a second consecutive Sunday in the nation’s capital. Pallante lost his shutout bid in the eighth inning, but relievers JoJo Romero and Ryan Helsley assured the Cardinals would not lose anything else in front of a crowd of 37,796, many of whom arrived early to get the Nationals’ Hogwarts-themed jersey giveaway.

The Nationals almost pulled of their own trick by getting the tying run into scoring position with a double steal against Helsley. Washington loaded the bases with two outs on the All-Star closer in the ninth.

Helsley challenged leadoff hitter CJ Abrams with a 100.9-mph fastball and got the game-ending fly out to right field that stranded all three runners and secured Helsley’s seventh save.

Expelliarmus, Nationals.

Pallante (3-2) pitched 7 1/3 strong innings and struck out seven. Both of the runs he allowed came on the same swing in the eighth inning, and before that inning started he had retired seven consecutive Nationals and 19 of the previous 21.

Shutout streak stops in 23rd inning

The Cardinals’ run of scoreless innings and their starters’ streak of zeroes ended with Pallante’s final pitch of the afternoon. Nationals’ outfielder Dylan Crews lifted it into the left-field seats for a two-run homer and an end to the Cardinals’ stifling three-day stretch.

Sonny Gray began it with seven scoreless innings for the Cardinals in their shutout win against Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Erick Fedde added to it with his complete game shutout Friday night — the first shutout by a Cardinals starter since 2022. Pallante got 21 outs from the first 24 batters he faced Saturday to carry the streak by the starters into a 23rd inning.

The Cardinals’ pitching staff had not allowed a run since Tuesday.

Moreover, they had allowed only one run in their previous 34 innings.

Crews shattered that with his fifth homer of the season — a two-run swing that cleaved the Cardinals’ lead in half and brought the bullpen in to hold the lead.

Pallante quells threat

On his way to echoing what Gray did on Wednesday and how Fedde upped the ante on Friday, Pallante dealt swiftly with the Nationals trying to kindle a rally in the fifth inning.

A leadoff single was followed three batters later by a bunt single to put runners at the corners with two outs and No. 9 hitter Crews at the plate.

For a Washington line aching for any hint of offense through the first two games of this series, the inning was relatively lively. They only got one batter into scoring position at all Friday night against Fedde, and that was the first batter of the game with a leadoff double. On Saturday, the Nationals got a two-out single in the first and then Pallante retired 10 consecutive going into the fifth inning. Washington got only two balls out of the infield in that span.

The bunt single gave them their first runner at third.

Pallante extinguished the spark quicker than it appeared.

On three pitches, the Cardinals’ right-hander struck out Crews. He buzzed a 94.7-mph fastball past Crews. Crews fouled off a 95-mph four-seam fastball to fall behind 0-2 and open up the strike zone for Pallante. He delivered a 95.6-mph sinker that Crews couldn’t connect on, and the inning ended in the same place it started for the Nats — empty.

The strikeout was Pallante’s fifth of the game, and four of those came as he navigated the Nationals’ lineup for a second time. Pallante led off the fourth with a strikeout that included his fastest pitch of the game, at 97 mph. It went for a ball, but Alex Call went after other pitches to strike out. Pallante’s sinker had an average zip of 1.1 mph more than usual, and that helped set up his four-seam fastball for five swings and misses through seven innings.

A whole lotta glove

Through the oscillations on offense and the turbulence in the bullpen, the Cardinals have been able to cling as tightly to their defense as they have to catches that make them one of the top fielding teams in the majors.

Behind Pallante, the good gloves helped him keep a grip on the shutout.

In the first inning, center fielder Victor Scott II dashed and dove in to pluck a line drive out of the air before Nathaniel Lowe could collect a hit. The third inning featured two slick plays by fielders, including another one in the outfield. Nolan Arenado spun and jumped to his right to catch a line drive from Crews that would have skipped merrily into the corner for extra bases. The next batter, leadoff hitter Abrams, lifted a deep fly ball to left field. Brendan Donovan gave chase and tumbled at the warning track as he caught it for the out.

Cardinals binge for lead

The four-run lead that Pallante spent the majority of his start defending all came in a burst against Nationals starter Trevor Williams.

Rather than tease out their offense over several innings as they did on the way to Friday’s 10-0 victory, the Cardinals seized upon a hit batter and a walk to take a 4-0 lead by the end of their second inning. Williams hit Willson Contreras with a pitch. Williams missed the strike zone to walk Alec Burleson. The rest of the inning became a flurry of base hits.

Pedros Pages singled to right for the game’s first run.

Scott singled to left for a 2-0 lead.

Continuing a week when his speed has pollinated box scores and the winning streak for the Cardinals, Scott was on first when leadoff hitter Lars Nootbaar pulled a doubled into right field. Scott scored easily from first on the hit, and his ability to draw a throw allowed Nootbaar to reach third. Nootbaar’s two RBIs doubled the Cardinals’ lead to 4-0 and also doubled his total RBIs from his previous 49 at-bats.

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