Jeff Locke and Stephen Strasburg didn’t have their best stuff on the field today as they both allowed 4 runs each. The Nationals would win the battle of the bullpens as a Tyler Moore sac-fly in the 9th would seal it for Washington.
Both teams would start the scoring in the third as the Nationals would strike first when Roger Bernadina would be hit by Locke. He would advance to third on a Clint Barmes error and score on an Ian Desmond sac fly to make it 1-0.
The Pirates would strike back immediately as Clint Barmes would reach by way of a single and advance to second on a Locke sac bunt. He, then, wouldn’t have to run any farther as Starling Marte would send a Strasburg fastball into the right-center field seats to make it 2 – 1 Pirates.
The Nationals would, then, answer directly in the 4th when Ryan Zimmerman hit a triple to the left field corner. He would score on an Adam LaRoche sac-fly to tie things at 2, but the Pirates, again, had an answer. Jordy Mercer would lead off the 5th with a single and Barmes would follow with a shot into the visiting bullpen to make it a 4 – 2 Bucco lead.
Like a prize fight, the Nationals threw a blow back for themselves, as Bryce Harper and Zimmerman would score on a Wilson Ramos 2 RBI single to, yet again, tie things up at 4.
They would threaten to take the lead in the 7th when Pedro Alvarez booted a backhand try at third allowing Desmond to reach. Justin Wilson would then walk the bases loaded with two outs, forcing him from the game. Bryan Morris would then come in and strike out Tyler Moore to end the threat.
The Nats would get that run they needed in the 9th. Tony Watson hit Zimmerman with one out. He would advance to second on a LaRoche single and successfully steal third on a double steal. Moore would then knock him in with a sac-fly to right for the winning run. “Every once in a while you have a game where you’re not in sync, but the walks and hit batsmen today, all those free 90’s added up.” Said manager, Clint Hurdle. “We put a couple good swings on Strasburg, but at the end of the day, they just played better than us.”
The Pirates looked like they had something going in the bottom when Russell Martin singled, but he would be thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. The Bucs would then go down quietly. Final Score: Nationals 5, Pirates 4.
The rubber-game of the series will be tomorrow afternoon at 1:35.
Starters Lines:
Locke (ND): 5+ IN, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 3 K’s, 1 HP. 74 Pitches (43 Strikes)
Strasburg (ND): 7 IN, 4 R, 4 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 8 K’s, 2 HR, 2 HP. 95 Pitches (65 Strikes)
Tomorrow’s Starters:
Wandy Rodriguez (PIT) 2 – 1, 3.91 ERA
Gio Gonzalez (WAS) 2 – 2, 5.34 ERA
