Jones Finds Groove in Pirates’ Win Over Nats, Taylor Hits Milestone Homer

PITTSBURGH — Jared Jones settled in after allowing a leadoff homer and helped carry the Pittsburgh Pirates to a series split against the Washington Nationals with a 7-3 win at PNC Park on Sunday afternoon.

Recap

Facing CJ Abrams to open the game, Jones hung an 0-2 slider to CJ Abrams, who clobbered a solo home run to right center. 

The Pirates (67-76) responded with four runs off of Patrick Corbin in the home half of the inning. Joey Bart connected on a two-run homer to left to put the Pirates out in front. Later in the inning, Billy Cook doubled home a pair of runs in his first major-league at-bat.

The Nationals (64-79) scored again on a Jacob Young base hit in the top of the second inning before Jones found his groove. The rookie right-hander retired the final 16 batters he faced and struck out five of the final six batters to end his outing.

Jones (6-7) went seven innings, allowed two runs on four hits, didn’t walk a batter and struck out nine.

In the bottom of the third, Andrew McCutchen cleared the left field fence with a towering solo homer to put the Pirates ahead 5-2. It was McCutchen’s 19th homer of the season.

The Pirates struck again in the fourth. After Alika Williams doubled and advanced to third, he beat a throw home on a grounder to second off the bat of Bryan Reynolds.

Michael A. Taylor hit the 100th home run of his career in the bottom of the sixth with a 419-foot solo shot to left-center off of Corbin (5-13). 

Andrés Chaparro doubled home a run for the Nationals in the ninth but Carmen Mlodzinski retired Jose Tena for the final out.

Key Moment

Cook’s two-run double in his first at-bat broke the game open and gave Jones plenty of breathing room, not that he needed too much considering how well he pitched.

Star of the Game

Jones’ start marked the third time this season he completed seven innings. He earned his first win since allowing two runs in seven innings against the Rays on June 22.

Stat to Know

Jones threw his curveball 29% of the time on Sunday, got three strikeouts with it and generated six whiffs. Entering play, he only threw the pitch 7% of the time.

Noteworthy

• The Pirates selected Billy Cook from Triple-A Indianapolis and placed Henry Davis on the 10-day injured list with left hand inflammation. Cook finished 2 for 4 with a double and two RBIs in his debut. 
• Domingo Germán cleared waivers and was outrighted to Indianapolis.

Up Next

The Pirates’ homestand continues on Monday night against the Marlins. Paul Skenes (9-2, 2.13 ERA) will start for Pittsburgh and Valente Bellozo (2-2, 3.78 ERA) will start for Miami. First pitch: 6:40.