Pirates Comeback Effort Falls Short vs. Nats; Curious Late-Game Decision Backfires
PITTSBURGH — A curious late-game decision may have cost the Pittsburgh Pirates in a comeback attempt that came up short resulting in a 5-4 loss to the Washington Nationals at PNC Park on Tuesday night.
Scoring Plays
Top 1st, 3-0 WSH: The first five batters of the game reached against Mitch Keller and the Nationals (8-9) pushed across three runs. Brady House, Daylen Lile and CJ Abrams all recorded RBI singles.
Bottom 1st, 3-1 WSH: Brandon Lowe connected on a solo home run to right field off left-hander PJ Poulin, who was used as an opener for righty Miles Mikolas. Lowe has homered in each of his last three games (four HRs total).
Top 3rd, 4-1 WSH: Abrams hit his second homer in as many games, a solo shot to right off Keller (1-1) to tack on another run for the Nats.
Top 4th, 5-1 WSH: Keller’s struggles continued in the fourth. With two on and two out, Luis García Jr. drove home a run with a single to right field.
Bottom 4th, 5-3 WSH: Marcell Ozuna collected his first RBI with the Pirates (10-7) on a run-scoring double to left field against Mikolas. Nick Gonzales tacked on another with a groundout to second base, which plated Bryan Reynolds from third base.
Bottom 5th, 5-4 WSH: Joey Bart first home run of the season was off Mikolas and knocked the right-hander out of the game. The solo shot just barely cleared Lile’s glove at the left field wall.
Key Moments
The Pirates loaded the bases with one out in the seventh inning. Manager Don Kelly opted to pinch hit Nick Yorke for Brandon Lowe. Left-hander Cionel Pérez entered the game for fellow lefty Mitchell Parker and induced an inning-ending double play on a 3-1 pitch.
Konnor Griffin doubled with one out in the ninth and Joey Bart followed with a walk, but Gus Varland earned his second save of the season after striking out Oneil Cruz and Nick Yorke popped out in foul ground to the first baseman.
Player of the Game
Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams went 3 for 4 with a home run, a double and two RBI. He has four hits, two home runs and three RBI so far this series.
Stat to Know
Pirates (since RBI became official in 1920) with 4+ homers and 11+ RBI in a three-game span:
- Ralph Kiner (6 HR, 12 RBI) – August 14-16, 1947
- Ralph Kiner (5 HR, 13 RBI) – September 11-14, 1949
- Jose Castillo (4 HR, 11 RBI) – May 29-31, 2006
- Brandon Lowe (4 HR, 11 RBI) – April 12-14, 2026
Notable Performances
- Mitch Keller: 4.0 innings, six hits, five runs, four walks, three strikeouts, 90 pitches/53 strikes
- Brandon Lowe: 1 for 2, one home run, one RBI, one run, one walk
- Joey Bart: 1 for 3, one home run, one RBI, one run, one walk
Marcell Ozuna: 2 for 4, one double, one RBI - Konnor Griffin: 2 for 4, one double
Noteworthy
- Oneil Cruz’s career-high 12-game hit streak came to an end. It was the longest active streak in MLB.
- Nick Yorke is hitless in his last 12 at-bats.
- The start of the game was delayed for a brief 18 minutes due to rain.
- RHP Jared Jones (right elbow surgery) threw a bullpen at PNC Park before the game.
Up Next
The Pirates have not yet announced a starting pitcher for Wednesday’s game. RHP Jake Irvin (1-1, 7.07 ERA) will start for the Nationals. First pitch: 6:40 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh/93.7 The Fan.
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