The Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals were back in action at PNC Park on Wednesday night in game three of their four games series. Each team won a game thus far, and Pittsburgh would get the best of Washington tonight by the final of 7-6. The Pirates would jump out to an early lead only to see the Nationals battle back until the very end.
Washington led first when Joey Meneses hit an RBI single in the first. Pittsburgh would answer with four runs in the bottom of the inning. Ke’Bryan Hayes tied the game with a double to right center. Jack Suwinski kept it going with an RBI single to left. Hayes would come in to score on a Joshua Palacios single to right. The final run came when Liover Peguero singled home Suwinski.
The Pirates scored their fifth run in the third when Alfonso Rivas doubled to right. A two-run home from Bryan Reynolds in the fourth increased the lead to six. The Nationals began their comeback on a solo homer from Drew Millas. Lane Thomas drove in a run on a double to left and then scored on a home run by Dominic Smith. The final run of the night came in the ninth on a Keibert Ruiz single to right center.
Pittsburgh would use six arms over nine innings. The first was Colin Selby who covered the first inning. The next four would go to Quinn Priester who picked up his third win of the year after allowing four runs on four hits with four strikeouts and one walk. Ryan Borucki walked one batter during 1.1 innings. Carmen Mlodzinski pitched 2/3, striking out one batter. Setup man Colin Holderman pitched the eighth, collecting one strikeout. David Bednar earned his 34th save after allowing one run on two hits with two walks and one strikeout.
Jackson Rutledge pitched 3.2 innings for Washington. He was tagged for seven runs on ten hits with two strikeouts and one walk. Joe La Sorsa worked the next 1.1 innings. He would walk a batter and allow one hit. Robert Garcia pitched the sixth and seventh, striking out three batters. Andres Machado struck out two while working the eighth.
It’s a good thing the Pirates added runs when they did tonight, and took advantage of some poor pitching by Rutledge, because they needed each one of them. This four-game series will conclude tomorrow afternoon at 12:35pm. Mitch Keller will get the start for Pittsburgh, while the Nationals will send Josiah Gray to the bump.
Record vs. Nationals: 4-2
Record vs. N.L. East: 13-13
Record at Home: 36-38
Overall Record: 68-78
And…
As Always…
Let’s Go Bucs!
