(Reuters) - The visiting Washington Nationals enjoyed a 3-2 win over the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday in in their Major League Baseball playoff debut for a 1-0 lead in their National League Division Series.

Rookie Tyler Moore delivered a pinch-hit, two-run single in the eighth inning to turn a 2-1 deficit into the game-winning margin of victory for the Nationals.

The Cardinals, who beat the Atlanta Braves on Friday in a one-game wildcard showdown to advance to the division series, had a bases-loaded no-out opportunity in the bottom of the eighth inning but failed to score.

The best-of-five series resumes on Monday in St. Louis. (Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue)