The Pittsburgh Pirates continued their six-game road trip tonight with the first of three games against the Washington Nationals. Pittsburgh was swept over the weekend by the Milwaukee Brewers, and tonight they would open this series with a 3-2 loss. The Pirates have now lost eight straight games and continue to see their season spin out of control.
Pittsburgh got the scoring started on the night in the second inning. That is when Kevin Newman hit a solo home run to left. Washington was then able to take the lead in the game with two runs of their own in the third. Run one scored on a Kyle Schwarber RBI single to right. The Nationals then went ahead with a Juan Soto RBI single to left center. Erik Gonzalez was able to tie the game at two in the sixth when he hit a sac fly to right to plate Jacob Stallings. Schwarber would strike again the seventh to drive in the game winning run on a solo homer to right center.
JT Brubaker started for the Pirates and pitched five innings on the night. He allowed two runs on four hits with one strikeout and two walks. Washington gave the start to Jon Lester and he would pitch 5.1 innings, allowing two runs on six hits with two strikeouts and one walk. Chris Stratton worked a scoreless sixth inning with a strikeout. Clay Holmes would be on the mound when the Nationals took the lead for good, though he would also collect two strikeouts during that one inning of work. Sam Howard and Kyle Crick would be the final members of the bullpen to be used on the night in the eighth inning.
Pittsburgh would outhit Washington tonight 7-6 with Newman leading the way with two hits. The Pirates didn’t have many opportunities during the game, as the Nationals did a good job keeping them off the basepaths. Pittsburgh will look to avoid another series loss tomorrow night when these two teams take the field again. Tyler Anderson will start for the Pirates, while Washington will counter with Patrick Corbin.
Record vs. Nationals: 0-1
Record vs. N.L. East: 4-5
Record on the Road: 10-23
Overall Record: 23-42
And…
As Always…
Let’s Go Bucs!
