The Pittsburgh Pirates continued to role in game two of a doubleheader on Saturday, taking down the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park by the final of 16-1. The Pittsburgh offense was cruising with seventeen hits, to Washingtons seven, and the pitching was locked in to record six strikeouts and allow just seven hits.
Sacrifice fly’s by Carlos Santana and Jason Delay in the first and second innings put the Pirates ahead 2-0. Santana was at it again in the third with an RBI double to right and then would come in to score when Jack Suwinski doubled to right. Bryan Reynolds drove in a pair with a double to right center in the fourth, that would be followed up by an Andrew McCutchen sac fly and a Santana RBI single to center.
In the sixth Suwinski would clear the bases by smashing a 458 ft. home run to right center. One inning later, Drew Maggi collected his first big league RBI on a single to center, this after he collected his first career hit earlier in the game. The final three Pittsburgh runs of the night came in the ninth on a three-run home run from Miguel Andujar. The Nationals finally got a run in the bottom half of the inning when Dominic Smith hit a solo home run to center.
Vince Velasquez upped his record to 4-2 on the year by pitching six innings of scoreless baseball. During that time, he would allow five hits with five strikeouts and zero free passes. Making his big league debut, Cody Bolton worked two innings, giving up one hit and striking out one batter. Yohan Ramirez came on in the ninth and allowed one run on one hit with a walk.
Former Bucco Chad Kuhl started for Washington and it was one he would like to forget. Kuhl allowed eight runs on seven hits over 3.2 innings, with four walks and four strikeouts. It would then take four relief pitchers to cover the final 5.1 innings. Over those innings, they would allow eight runs on ten hits, to go along with four strikeouts and three walks.
This was an absolute perfect day for us fans. Win both games of a doubleheader, see great pitching, hitting, and fielding, and did I mention win both games of a doubleheader? The Pirates are also the first National League team to reach twenty wins on the season. They will now try to sweep Washington tomorrow afternoon in the series finale. The pitching matchup will feature Johan Oviedo against Josiah Gray.
Record vs. Nationals: 2-0
Record vs. N.L. East: 2-0
Record on the Road: 11-4
Overall Record: 20-8
And…
As Always…
Let’s Go Bucs!
