Pirates Pounded 9-2 By Nats

At least the Bucs weren't going to be no-hit; Cutch doubled (and was stranded) in the opening frame. The Nats quickly saw that play and raised the bet when Bryce Harper creamed a two-run blast into the second deck of RF in DC's half. The last hit of the inning was at three run shot by Yunel Escobar. In between, Washington sandwiched in four more runs. Charlie lasted 2/3 of an inning and left down 9-0; Vanimal came in and K'ed Harper, an accomplishment in itself, to end the Nats' run of 12 batters. This stat explains it all: Charlie Morton’s ERA was 1.62 yesterday and it's 3.97 today.

Aye carrumba, Charlie! (photo USA Today images)

The good news? Well, the Bucs plated a couple of runs on Corey Hart's two-out ninth-inning homer. The bullpen continued to stand tall, stemming the Nat run barrage as Vance Worley (4-1/3 frames), Antonio Bastardo (two IP) and and Arquimedes Caminero (one inning) tossed zippo ball. And, of course, the fact that the Cards lost by the same 9-2 score to the Phillies.

While the Pirates weren't about to dig out of a 9-0 hole, the offense continues to be worrisome with another subpar 1-for-8 RISP performance. The Bucs have scored three or fewer runs 12 times in the last 14 games, dating back to June 7th and the Bravo series.

Pittsburgh is off tomorrow and home on Tuesday, with 16 of their next 19 games at PNC Park to carry them to the All-Star break. The Reds open the fun, with Jeff Locke taking on the Reds' Johnny Cueto in a bit of a David v Goliath tilt.

• Hart's homer snapped a Nats' franchise high 24 straight shutout frames by the pitching staff, all against Pittsburgh. Charlie Morton had his personal 14+ inning scoreless streak snapped rather rudely today, too.
• Jose Tabata drew a houseful of boos, but didn't have to dodge any inside fastballs as the Nats apparently accepted he was nicked by an errant pitch yesterday. 
• After today, the Pirates stand six games behind the Cardinals and one game ahead of Chicago in the NL East.
• Washington set a first inning franchise record with nine runs and tied the team mark for most runs in any single frame.
• The Pirates were trying to become the first MLB team since the 1920 Indians to have three pitchers credited with six-game winning streaks before end of June. Gerrit Cole and AJ Burnett had already put their strings together; Charlie Morton fell a game short.
• You think this game was bad? Indy lost 13-1, with utility infielder Kelson Brown pitching an inning (put up a zero, too). The Tribe gave up six homers and Casey Sadler was charged with 10 runs in four+ frames.