Jake Irvin scattered three hits over seven shutout innings to help the Washington Nationals beat the host Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0 on Tuesday night.
The Nationals snapped a three-game losing streak and recorded their first shutout of the season. Jose Ferrer and Kyle Finnegan combined to allow one hit over the final two frames with Finnegan picking up his sixth save.
A day after the Pirates totaled a season-high 10 runs and 14 hits, they mustered only four singles against Washington. Pittsburgh was shut out for the third time this season as Irvin (1-0) struck out six and issued one walk on 87 pitches.
Jack Suwinski was one of the few bright spots for the Pirates, going 2-for-4, and was the only Pittsburgh hitter to reach second base. That came in the bottom of the fifth when the Pirates put together their best scoring threat with runners on first and second with no outs.
Irvin then induced Adam Frazier to fly out to center and got Isiah Kiner-Falefa to ground into an inning-ending double play.
James Wood put the Nationals on the board immediately when he crushed a 94 mph fastball from Mitch Keller 445 feet to center field for a leadoff home run — his sixth long ball of the season.
Keller (1-2) settled in and kept Washington from adding more until the top of the sixth, which had a scary moment when Keller hit Nationals’ third baseman Paul DeJong in the face with a 92.7 mph fastball.
DeJong immediately dropped to the ground and was attended to by team trainers and Nationals manager Dave Martinez. DeJong walked off the field and into the clubhouse holding a towel to his face to cover a gash under his left eye. Amed Rosario replaced DeJong on the bases and remained in the game at third base.
Washington added a pair of runs immediately after the incident when Dylan Crews singled, stole second and came around to score, along with Rosario, on Nasim Nunez’s two-run single.
Keller was done after six innings as he allowed three runs on six hits and two walks while striking out three on 105 pitches. Nunez, who made his second consecutive start at shortstop since being called up to the majors, went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
–Field Level Media
