Final
Pirates-Nationals Preview
May 21, 2009 - 4:43 AM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior WriterPittsburgh (18-21) at Washington (11-27), 7:05 p.m. EDT
The Pittsburgh Pirates are taking full advantage of the Washington Nationals' inability to win.
Brimming with confidence, the surging Pirates look to win their sixth straight game and sweep a four-game set from the slumping Washington franchise for the first time in 22 years in Thursday night's finale.
After plating 38 runs in the first four games of its winning streak, Pittsburgh (19-21) defeated Washington 2-1 on Wednesday thanks to another meltdown from the Nationals' bullpen.
In the ninth inning of a tie game, the Pirates loaded the bases against Washington closer Joel Hanrahan, who threw a two-out, wild pitch to Adam LaRoche, allowing Freddy Sanchez to score the winning run.
Pittsburgh, which had dropped 14 of 17 prior to its five-game winning streak, has climbed out of last place in the NL Central and is trying to win six in a row for the first time since May 6-12, 2008. The Pirates are also seeking their first four-game sweep over the Washington (19-21) franchise since June 23-26, 1987, at Montreal.
"It's unbelievable. You can just feel the electricity in the clubhouse," said reliever John Grabow, who pitched the eighth inning Wednesday for the victory. "It's so awesome knowing that when you win, how much it changes the mood. Everybody's a lot more confident. When you come to the field and you're expecting a win, it makes all the difference."
While the Pirates are rolling, the Nationals have matched a season worst seven-game losing streak and dropped 10 of 11.
"I'm tired of talking about losses, period," outfielder Adam Dunn said. "You can only say the same thing over and over and over before you get fed up with it, and that's kind of what's going on right now."
Despite being mired in an awful losing stretch, the Nationals had scored five or more runs in 10 straight games for the first time in franchise history. The pitching was chiefly responsible for the skid, yielding at least seven runs in each of their previous six games.
On Wednesday, John Lannan finally gave Washington a solid pitching performance, only to have the offense stall.
"It doesn't seem like anything's going right for us right now," manager Manny Acta said.
Craig Stammen is set to make his major league debut in the series finale for Washington, which has a major league-worst 5.84 team ERA
Stammen, who went 4-2 with a 1.80 ERA in seven starts for Triple-A Syracuse, takes the spot in the rotation of Daniel Cabrera, 0-5 with 5.95 ERA. With Stammen's promotion, the Nationals have a rotation with four rookies - Stammen, Shairon Martis, Jordan Zimmermann and Ross Detwiler - along with Lannan, who's in his second year. They are supported by a bullpen that has a 1-15 record.
Acting general manager Mike Rizzo said Stammen and Detwiler will stay in the rotation on a start-by-start basis.
The Pirates counter with Ian Snell (1-5, 4.93 ERA), who had his last outing cut short by rain.
On Saturday against Colorado, the right-hander gave up three runs and three hits in two innings before a 96-minute delay. The Pirates went on to beat the Rockies 7-4, improving to 2-6 in Snell's starts.
In two starts against the Nationals last year, Snell went 1-1 with a 3.75 ERA.
- NL
FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
PITTSBURGH 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 4 5 0
WASHINGTON 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 2 x 5 8 0 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: PIT - IAN SNELL, TOM GORZELANNY (7TH), JESSE CHAVEZ (8TH) AND JASON
JARAMILLO
WAS - CRAIG STAMMEN, JULIAN TAVAREZ (7TH), JOEL
HANRAHAN (9TH) AND JOSH BARD
HOME R
May 21 9:31 PM - NL
AT WASHINGTON - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY ADAM DUNN SCORED NICK JOHNSON.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, A DUNN ON FIRST, R ZIMMERMAN ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: PITTSBURGH 4
WASHINGTON 5 BOTTOM, 8TH
DUE UP FOR WASHINGTON: J WILLINGHAM (.214, 1-FOR-2, BB)
Pirates 4, Nationals 5 Bot 8, 0 OutsMay 21 9:13 PM - NL
AT WASHINGTON - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY RYAN ZIMMERMAN SCORED CRISTIAN GUZMAN.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, R ZIMMERMAN ON FIRST, N JOHNSON ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: PITTSBURGH 4
WASHINGTON 4 BOTTOM, 8TH
DUE UP FOR WASHINGTON: A DUNN (.275, 0-FOR-3)
Pirates 4, Nationals 4 Bot 8, 0 OutsMay 21 9:11 PM - NL
AT WASHINGTON - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY ANDY LAROCHE SCORED BRANDON MOSS.
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, A LAROCHE ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: PITTSBURGH 4
WASHINGTON 3 TOP, 7TH
DUE UP FOR PITTSBURGH: J JARAMILLO (.255, 0-FOR-2)
Pirates 4, Nationals 3 Top 7, 0 OutsMay 21 8:39 PM - NL
AT WASHINGTON - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY ADAM LAROCHE (7) TO RIGHT WITH 1 OUT IN
THE 7TH OFF CRAIG STAMMEN SCORED NATE MCLOUTH.
CURRENT SCORE: PITTSBURGH 3, WASHINGTON 3
DUE UP FOR PITTSBURGH: B MOSS (.254, 0-FOR-2)
Pirates 3, Nationals 3 Top 7, 0 OutsMay 21 8:36 PM - NL
AT WASHINGTON - SCORING UPDATE
GROUND OUT BY ANDY LAROCHE SCORED ADAM LAROCHE.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, NONE ON, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: PITTSBURGH 1
WASHINGTON 3 TOP, 5TH
DUE UP FOR PITTSBURGH: J JARAMILLO (.259, 0-FOR-1)
Pirates 1, Nationals 3 Top 5, 0 OutsMay 21 8:09 PM - 47
roots - NL
AT WASHINGTON - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JOSH BARD SCORED JOSH WILLINGHAM.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J BARD ON FIRST, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: PITTSBURGH 0
WASHINGTON 3 BOTTOM, 4TH
DUE UP FOR WASHINGTON: A HERNANDEZ (.283, 0-FOR-0, SF, RBI)
Pirates 0, Nationals 3 Bot 4, 0 OutsMay 21 8:03 PM - NL
AT WASHINGTON - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY ANDERSON HERNANDEZ SCORED WILLIE HARRIS.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: PITTSBURGH 0
WASHINGTON 2 BOTTOM, 2ND
DUE UP FOR WASHINGTON: C STAMMEN (.000, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
Pirates 0, Nationals 2 Bot 2, 0 OutsMay 21 7:36 PM - NL
AT WASHINGTON - SCORING UPDATE
GROUND OUT BY JOSH BARD SCORED JOSH WILLINGHAM.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, W HARRIS ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: PITTSBURGH 0
WASHINGTON 1 BOTTOM, 2ND
DUE UP FOR WASHINGTON: A HERNANDEZ (.283, 0 HR, 10 RBI)
Pirates 0, Nationals 1 Bot 2, 0 OutsMay 21 7:34 PM
Related News
- Washington Nationals news & notes: Getting more pitching in 2024 + more... Dec 26
- Pirates Top Games of 2023: No. 6 - Drew Maggi gets his moment Dec 23
- The Pirates got it right with Andrew McCutchen Dec 22
- Bucs Arghticles: Pirates’ Andrew McCutchen makes comments after signing Dec 22
- Pirates targeting first baseman in upcoming MLB Draft Dec 22
- Washington Nationals news & notes: Keibert Ruiz, CS% and more… Dec 22
- Bucs Arghticles: Pirates sign Ryan Mattson Dec 21
- Washington Nationals news & notes: Stephen Strasburg retirement?; 40-man spot + more... Dec 21
- Pirates Top Games of 2023: No. 7 - Johan Oviedo shuts out the Royals Dec 20
- Andrew McCutchen re-signs with Pirates for 2024 season Dec 19
- Talk the Plank Podcast: The Pirates are a bit ‘Rowdy’ Dec 19
- Washington Nationals news & notes: Joey Meneses & DH duties vs playing the field… Dec 19