Washington Nationals at Pittsburgh Pirates

· Doubleheader - Game 1 - Makeup from 9/6

Washington Nationals

63-78, 31-41 Away

Final
5 - 3

Pittsburgh Pirates

66-75, 33-37 Home

Herz and Crews star as the Nationals beat the Pirates 5-3 in a doubleheader opener

Herz (3-7) was lifted after 87 pitches. He struck out five and walked three in his first win since Aug. 3.

Manager Dave Martinez did not want to push Herz any further. Herz has thrown a combined 114 1/3 innings between the majors and minors this season, a career high for the 23-year-old left-hander.

“I totally understand, and I agree with it,” Herz said of being removed from the game. “I just keep pitching as long as they keep me out there and then we go from there. I understand what they are doing.”

Pirates manager Derek Shelton was impressed by Herz.

“It was interesting. I don’t know if we’ve seen a young pitcher like that vary the speeds of his fastball. 92, 94, 96, back to 92, went back up,” Shelton said. “He did a nice job at the top of the zone, and we just did not adjust to it.”

Crews hit a solo drive in the second against Luis Ortiz for his third homer since being called up from Triple-A Rochester last month. The No. 2 pick in last year’s amateur draft also hit a run-scoring double in a two-run sixth that lifted the Nationals to a 4-0 lead.

“(Ortiz) obviously has a great arm and you’ve got to beat him to the fastball,” said Crews, who entered the day in a 2-for-16 slump. “That what I was trying to do, and it felt good. It felt like, as a team, we were getting barrels on the ball.”

Robert Garcia replaced Herz and retired five straight batters before Nick Gonzales grounded a single into center field with two outs in the seventh.

Rowdy Tellez greeted Jacob Barnes with a two-run shot that bounced into the Allegheny River beyond the right-field stands. Tellez’s sixth career pinch homer cut the Nationals’ lead to 4-2.

Kyle Finnegan pitched a shaky ninth inning for his 35th save in 40 chances. Gonzales hit an RBI single with one out, but Bryan De La Cruz grounded into a game-ending double play with the bases loaded.

“I was motivated by the fact that I was getting soft contact,” Finnegan said. “In the ninth inning, a baserunner is a baserunner no matter how he gets on. I felt good about my stuff and that I could get out of (the jam).”

The Pirates were no-hit on Wednesday in Chicago. The Cubs’ Shota Imanaga, Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge combined on the gem.

Jose Tena had two hits for the Nationals, who had lost five of six.

The Nationals grabbed a 2-0 lead when Luis García Jr. scampered home on Joey Bart’s passed ball with two out in the fourth. García also hit an RBI double in the sixth.

Washington scored its last run on CJ Abrams’ sacrifice fly in the ninth.

Ortiz (6-5) allowed four runs — three earned — and six hits in 5 2/3 innings. Crews’ homer snapped Ortiz’s streak of 16 scoreless innings.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Nationals: RHP Trevor Williams (strained right forearm flexor) will make a rehab start on Tuesday for Double-A Harrisburg. Williams is expected to go four innings and throw 65-70 pitches.

Pirates: Bart (strained left hamstring) was activated from the 10-day IL after being out since Aug. 26. OF Billy McKinney was designated for assignment to open a roster spot.

Nationals rookie LHP Mitchell Parker (7-9, 4.27 ERA) was scheduled to face Pirates RHP Mitch Keller (11-9, 3.88 ERA) in the second game.

How can I watch Washington Nationals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates?

TV Channel: Nationals at Pirates 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Pirates: 57.6%

Nationals: 42.4%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	De La Cruz grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, Taylor out at second.
	9th Inning	Taylor ran for Tellez
	9th Inning	Tellez walked, N. Gonzales to second, Cruz to third.
	9th Inning	N. Gonzales singled to left, Bart scored, Cruz to second.
	9th Inning	Cruz singled to left, Bart to second.
	9th Inning	McCutchen flied out to center.

Statistics

WSH		PIT
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
1	Hit By Pitch	0
10	Ground Balls	10
4	Strikeouts	7
4	Runs Batted In	3
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
7	Hits	5
3	Stolen Bases	0
6	Walks	4
0	Catcher Interference	0
5	Runs	3
2	Ground Into Double Play	1
2	Sacrifice Flies	0
30	At Bats	31
1	Home Runs	1
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
14	Runners Left On Base	7
0	Triples	0
0	Game Winning RBIs	0
1	Intentional Walks	0
2	Doubles	0
13	Fly Balls	11
0	Caught Stealing	0
153	Pitches	149
0	Games Started	0
0	Pinch At Bats	2
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
1	Is Qualified In Steals	0
12	Total Bases	8
39	Plate Appearances	35
162.0	Projected Home Runs	162.0
3	Extra Base Hits	1
5.1	Runs Created	1.7
.233	Batting Average	.161
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.400	Slugging Percentage	.258
.467	Secondary Average	.226
.359	On Base Percentage	.257
.759	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.515
0.8	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.9
5.1	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	1.7
35.0	Batter Rating	20.0
30.0	At Bats Per Home Run	31.0
1.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.00
3.92	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	4.26
.167	Isolated Power	.097
1.50	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.57
.154	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.114
.233	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	.065
9.0	Runs Produced	6.0
0.8	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.5	Patience Ratio	0.4
0.2	Balls In Play Average	0.2
83.3	MLB Rating	70.8
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0