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Pirates wait out the rain to top Nationals

Apr 24, 2011 - 6:17 AM Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Lyle Overbay had two RBI singles, Andrew McCutchen scored three times and Pittsburgh rolled to a 7-2 victory over Washington in the rescheduled opener of a three-game series.

The teams were supposed to begin the series on Friday, but the game was postponed until Monday because of rain. It took even longer to get them on the field after Saturday's game was delayed by rain.

After it finally started, the Pirates scored six runs in the first two innings against Livan Hernandez (2-2) to take control. He finished the game giving up seven runs -- four earned -- on nine hits over six innings.

"It was just a tough day for me out there today," said Hernandez. "Even when I did make my pitches they were able to find the holes out there."

Jeff Karstens (2-0) earned the win after allowing two runs on six hits and a walk in six-plus innings. He struck out three and was pulled after giving up back-to-back hits to start the seventh.

"He gave us a quality start and pitched a good ballgame," said Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle about Karstens. "He had good command and was able to get ahead in the count a bunch of times."

Chris Resop, Joe Beimel and Evan Meek threw one scoreless inning apiece to preserve the win.

Jayson Werth hit a solo homer for the Nationals, who have lost three straight games. The Pirates, meanwhile, snapped a three-game skid after getting swept by the Marlins this week.

After a 71-minute delay, Pittsburgh jumped on Hernandez for five runs in the first inning without getting anything more than a double.

The Pirates made it all the way through their order, with Karstens making the final out. Overbay, Ryan Doumit and Ronny Cedeno had RBI singles, Garrett Jones hit an RBI double and Pedro Alvarez grounded out to plate a run.

Washington got a run back in the second when Adam LaRoche led off with a double, moved to third on a ground out and scored on Michael Morse's single.

McCutchen manufactured a run for Pittsburgh in the bottom of the second. He drew a leadoff walk, stole second and moved to third on a bad throw, then scored on Jose Tabata's sacrifice fly to make it 6-1.

Werth belted his third homer of the season leading off the fourth for Washington, driving Karstens' first-pitch fastball deep into the seats in left field.

But the Pirates got the run back, taking their 7-2 lead in the sixth when McCutchen walked and scored his third run on Overbay's single. Tabata was thrown out at third base on the play, ending the inning.

Karstens was yanked after giving up a double to Wilson Ramos and a single to Morse in the seventh. Resop saved him, striking out two and getting Matt Stairs on a line drive to end the inning.

Washington only put two more baserunners on, but Werth and Ian Desmond were stranded after drawing walks in the eighth and ninth innings.

Game Notes

Pittsburgh out-hit the Nationals 9-6...Relievers Brian Broderick and Collin Balester threw one scoreless inning apiece for Washington.