Washington Nationals at Pittsburgh Pirates

· Major League Baseball

Washington Nationals

4-5, 3-2 Away

Final
7 - 2

Pittsburgh Pirates

3-4, 2-2 Home

Bell, Cruz have 3 RBIs each, Nats beat Pirates 7-2

Each of the top four hitters in the Nationals’ lineup – César Hernández, Juan Soto, Cruz and Bell — had two hits while combining to go 8 for 17.

Washington manager Dave Martinez feels Hernandez sets the tone of as the leadoff hitter. Hernandez was signed in the offseason.

“The key for him, don’t try to do too much, just get on base,” Martinez said. “Right now, he’s staying on the ball with two strikes, hitting the ball the other way and trying to get on base, which is awesome.”

Erik Fedde (1-0) allowed two runs and four hits in five innings, struck out six and walked two.

Three pitchers combined for four scoreless innings of one-hit relief.

“They were awesome,” Martinez said of the trio of Sean Doolittle, Austin Voth and Paolo Espino. “I’ve got all the faith in the world in those guys.”

Mitch Keller (0-2) struggled for a second straight start, giving up four runs, seven hits and three walks in 3 2/3 innings. His ERA is 9.39 after two starts.

“I’m cool with how I’m throwing right now,” Keller said. “I’m feeling really good. It was seven singles today. I just got to keep pushing forward.”

The Nationals had four straight singles to begin the game, including RBI hits by Cruz and Bell. Cruz singled in another run in the third to make it 3-0.

“When he gets hot, it’s a sight to see,” Martinez said of Cruz, signed as a free agent during the offseason. “He’s a professional hitter and has a lot of RBI for a reason. Him and Josh Bell are swinging the bats really well right now.”

Hoy Park accounted for the Pirates’ scoring with a two-run double in the second.

“We had Fedde on the ropes a few times and made him have to execute pitches and we just couldn’t get the big hit,” Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said.

The Nationals broke open the game in the middle innings, increasing their lead to 7-2. Cruz plated a run with a groundout in the fourth, Yadiel Hernández doubled and scored on Lane Thomas’ double in the fifth and Bell delivered a two-run single in the sixth with the bases loaded.

Bell has reached base in each of the Nationals’ nine games. He played for the Pirates from 2016-20 and started in the 2019 All-Star Game.

“We are where we want to be,” Cruz said of the offense. “It’s early in the season, but we’re doing good things: getting on base, finding ways to score runs. That’s what we need to be doing.”

TIME OFF FOR ROBLES

Nationals center fielder Victor Robles did not start for a second straight game. Instead, he did extensive pre-game work with hitting coach Darnell Coles.

Robles is hitless in 15 at-bats so far this season. He also batted .209 in 159 games the past two seasons.

ROSTER MOVES

The Nationals place infielder/outfielder Dee Strange-Gordon (illness) on the 10-day injured list and recalled outfielder Donovan Casey from Triple-A Rochester. Casey was one of four prospects acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers last July in a trade for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner.

Washington also claimed outfielder Josh Palacios off waivers from Toronto and optioned him to Rochester. Palacios made his major league debut last season, playing in eight games for the Blue Jays.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Nationals: Martinez said Strange-Gordon was feeling better Friday, a day after being scratched from the lineup, but was unable to comment further.

Pirates: C Roberto Perez (bruised left quadriceps) left the game in the second inning after being struck by Cruz’s foul tip … LHP Sam Howard (mid back muscle strain) began a rehab assignment at Low-A Bradenton. … OF Anthony Alford (right wrist strain) has started swinging a bat and could go on a rehab assignment next week.

Nationals: LHP Josh Rogers (1-0, 1.69 ERA) starts Saturday. He allowed two earned runs in 6 2/3 innings last season in his lone appearance against the Pirates.

Pirates: RHP Bryse Wilson (0-0, 6.75 ERA) will be making his second start of the season after giving up three runs in four innings Sunday at St. Louis.

How can I watch Washington Nationals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates?

TV Channel: Nationals at Pirates 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.tv.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Tucker struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Castillo singled to left.
	9th Inning	Gamel grounded out to pitcher.
	9th Inning	Tsutsugo flied out to center.
	9th Inning	Espino relieved Voth
	9th Inning	Robles grounded out to shortstop.

Statistics

WSH		PIT
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
1	Hit By Pitch	0
15	Ground Balls	7
5	Strikeouts	10
7	Runs Batted In	2
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
10	Hits	5
1	Stolen Bases	0
6	Walks	2
0	Catcher Interference	0
7	Runs	2
1	Ground Into Double Play	0
0	Sacrifice Flies	0
35	At Bats	32
0	Home Runs	0
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
19	Runners Left On Base	10
0	Triples	0
1	Game Winning RBIs	0
0	Intentional Walks	0
2	Doubles	1
15	Fly Balls	15
0	Caught Stealing	0
165	Pitches	148
0	Games Started	0
0	Pinch At Bats	0
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
1	Is Qualified In Steals	0
12	Total Bases	6
42	Plate Appearances	34
0.0	Projected Home Runs	0.0
2	Extra Base Hits	1
5.6	Runs Created	0.7
.286	Batting Average	.156
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.343	Slugging Percentage	.188
.257	Secondary Average	.094
.405	On Base Percentage	.206
.748	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.393
1.0	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.5
5.8	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	0.7
43.0	Batter Rating	15.0
0.0	At Bats Per Home Run	0.0
1.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.00
3.93	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	4.35
.057	Isolated Power	.031
1.20	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.20
.143	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.059
-.029	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	-.063
14.0	Runs Produced	4.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.5	Patience Ratio	0.2
0.3	Balls In Play Average	0.2
89.5	MLB Rating	65.3
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0