Left-hander Andrew Heaney went 7 1/3 shutout innings and Oneil Cruz blasted a leadoff home run to propel the host Pittsburgh Pirates to a 1-0 victory over the Washington Nationals on Thursday afternoon.
The Pirates won their second in a row and picked up three wins in four games against the Nationals, who have lost five of their past six. It was Pittsburgh’s first shutout of the season and the first time Washington has been shut out.
Cruz’s first career leadoff home run and fourth of the season was a 442-foot blast deep to right-center field off Washington starter Trevor Williams (1-2), and followed his grand slam in his final at-bat in Wednesday’s 6-1 win.
Williams went five innings, allowing the lone run on three hits and three walks while striking out five.
Heaney (1-1) continued Pittsburgh’s recent run of strong starting pitching. The veteran gave up five hits, struck out four and walked two on 95 pitches.
Heaney pitched to catcher Joey Bart, who returned to the Pirates’ lineup after missing five consecutive games due to lower back soreness.
Heaney’s gem marked the second consecutive outing of seven or more scoreless innings by a Pirates starter and the fourth in a row of at least six innings pitched.
Heaney walked Nasim Nunez to open the eighth and was removed after Alex Call’s sacrifice bunt with James Wood coming to the plate. Reliever Ryan Borucki induced a ground out by Wood.
Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes saved a run when he short hopped a smash by Amed Rosario down the line and threw to first to end the inning. Dennis Santana replaced Borucki with one out in the ninth and recorded the final two outs to pick up his second save.
Nathaniel Lowe had a double among his two hits as Washington mustered only five hits overall.
Nationals bench coach Miguel Cairo managed Thursday’s game with manager Davey Martinez serving a one-game suspension. Martinez was suspended for one game and reliever Jorge Lopez was suspended for three games after Lopex threw a high fastball to Andrew McCutchen during Wednesday’s game, prompting both benches to clear.
–Field Level Media
