Pirate hitters fanned 15 times, 13 of them to Stephen Strasburg as the Nationals avoided the sweep with a 4-2 victory on Thursday night. Kevin Correia started strong for the Bucs but allowed 3 earned on runs on two homers in the 6th inning to fall to 1-3 on the campaign.
The Pirates jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with RBI singles from Andre McCutchen and Neil Walker. The Nats responded in the top of the 6th with a lead off home run from Roger Bernadina. After a walk to Ryan Zimmerman, Adam Laroche hit his second home run of the series to give the Nats a 3-2 cushion.
They never looked back. Rick Ankiel added another solo shot in the 9th as the Pirates were unable to stage a rally and fell 4-2. Stephen Strasburg was sharp for most of his 6 innings and recorded his 27th strikeout in 2 games against the Bucs.
Kevin Correia continued his mediocre to poor starting at home as the Pirates await Houston for a 3 game home stand. Pedro Alvarez was hitless again bringing his hitless streak to 5 games. He had been drawing more walks which is a positive sign and has cut down on the strikeouts tremendously.
Andrew McCutchen raised his team leading average to .330 going 6 for 9 in the series with 2 Hrs and four RBIs. Neil walker extended his hitting streak to 7 games and continues to improve after an early season slump. With the Astros on the deck look for the Bucs to be more aggressive at the plate and taking more chance on the basepads. At 14-17, the season is far from over.
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