Pirates Drop Exciting Back-and-Forth Game to Nats; Miscues Prove Costly
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates battled with the Washington Nationals but too many miscues proved insurmountable in an 8-7 loss in 10 innings at PNC Park on Thursday afternoon.
Scoring Plays
Top 5th, 4-0 WSH: With the bases loaded and one out, Luis García Jr. hit a slow grounder to shortstop Konnor Griffin. Nasim Nuñez won a foot race to second base and Griffin spiked a throw towards first, which allowed two more runs to score. Later in the inning, García broke from second to third base and Ashcraft threw behind him in a pickoff attempt, but the throw ended up in center field. García trotted in to score the fourth run of the inning.
Bottom 5th, 4-4: The Pirates (11-8) immediately responded with four runs off Nats starter Foster Griffin. Oneil Cruz plated Billy Cook with a 119 mph rocketed double to right field. Marcell Ozuna followed with a towering three-run shot to left field that hit the rotunda.
Top 6th, 5-4 WSH: The Nationals (9-10) reclaimed the lead when Joey Wiemer hit a pinch-hit RBI double off Evan Sisk to right field. The ball was just out of reach of the diving Jake Mangum, whose throw went towards second base.
Bottom 6th, 6-5 PIT: Konnor Griffin tied the game with an RBI triple high off the wall in center off Paxton Schultz. Later in the inning, Nick Gonzales plated the go-ahead run with an RBI single to right field off PJ Poulin but was thrown out trying to advance to second base to end the inning.
Top 7th, 7-6 WSH: After the Pirates intentionally walked CJ Abrams to load the bases, Yohan Ramírez hit Jacob Young to force across the tying run. Ramírez then threw a wild pitch to give the Nationals the lead after Daylen Lile scored from third.
Bottom 9th, 7-7: Down to their last strike, the Pirates tied the game off Gus Varland when Brandon Lowe reached on an infield single with the bases loaded.
Top 10th, 8-7: With two outs, James Wood singled home automatic runner Jorbit Vivas against Dennis Santana (2-1) to put the Nationals ahead for good.
Key Moments
Both of Ramírez’s misfires in the seventh inning happened with two strikes. He plunked Jacob Young on an 0-2 offering and was ahead 1-2 when he bounced a breaking ball, allowing a go-ahead run to score.
On Brandon Lowe’s RBI infield single in the ninth, third base coach Tony Beasley gave Oneil Cruz the send sign when the ball trickled away from the Nats middle infield duo, but Cruz stayed put at third on a miscommunication.
The Pirates had runners on the corners with no outs in the 10th but came up empty. Bryan Reynolds struck out and Jake Mangum grounded into a game-ending double play. Nats reliever Orlando Ribalta earned his first-career save.
Player of the Game
James Wood had a pair of hits and pushed across the game-winning run with an RBI single in the 10th.
Stat to Know
Oneil Cruz’s 119 mph is the hardest hit ball in MLB this season.
Notable Performances
- Braxton Ashcraft: 5.2 innings, five hits, five runs (two earned), two walks, seven strikeouts, 90 pitches/64 strikes.
- Marcell Ozuna: 1 for 4, one home run, three RBI, one run, one run, one walk
- Oneil Cruz: 2 for 5, one double, one RBI, one run, two steals
- Jake Mangum: 3 for 5, two runs, one walk, one steal
- Konnor Griffin: 2 for 5, one triple, one RBI
- Brandon Lowe: 2 for 5, one RBI
Noteworthy
- The Pirates committed four errors in the loss (Konnor Griffin, Braxton Ashcraft, Nick Gonzales and Nick Yorke), which led to four runs for Washington.
- Nick Yorke entered the game hitless in his last 15 at-bats but broke the slump with a single in his first at-bat to lead off the second inning. Oneil Cruz broke an 0-for-10 slump with a 2 for 5 performance.
- Braxton Ashcraft’s 90 pitches were a career-high. His previous high was 87, which he did twice this season.
- Bryan Reynolds’ 14-game on-base streak came to an end after grounding out in his only plate appearance of the game. He entered in the eighth as a pinch-hitter. ???
- The Pirates used all 13 position players on their roster.
Up Next
The homestand continues on Friday night with the Tampa Bay Rays coming to PNC Park this weekend. RHP Bubba Chandler (0-1, 3.86 ERA) will start for the Pirates on Friday night opposite RHP Nick Martinez (0-0, 2.16 ERA). First pitch: 6:45 p.m. ET.
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