Washington Nationals starting pitcher Tanner Roark delivers a pitch during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Saturday, July 16, 2016, in Washington.
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Cards outfielder Tommy Pham homered twice, drove in four runs, and had three hits in four at-bats in a 7-6 loss to the Marlins.
The Washington Nationals provided a tougher test. “He’s given us everything we wanted”.
Carlos Beltran drove in two runs and Brian McCann had the other RBI for the Yankees.
Stephen Drew (No.6) and Danny Espinosa (No. 9) hit back-to-back, one-out doubles to left and right, respectively, in the second with Espinosa’s driving Drew in for a 2-0 lead on Cole and Pirates after two. Namely, that with a healthy Strasburg to go along with ace Max Scherzer (he of the 0.96 WHIP and MLB-high 164 strikeouts) atop the rotation, the Nationals – who came out of the break with a six-game cushion – have the look of a team that could run away with the NL East. 500 at some point this season.
Update: The Nationals continue to keep the pressure on, and they continue to benefit from it. They scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth, thanks to another double by Drew and then some awfully shaky defense from the Pirates infield.
Pirates right-hander Gerrit Cole (5-4, 2.77 ERA) returns from the DL and to start tonight against Nationals right-hander Tanner Roark (8-5, 3.01). He went out to the mound in the ninth inning with his at-bat song “Stranglehold” by Ted Nugent playing over the speakers to attempt to finish the contest, but he allowed a leadoff single to Jaso and hit Starling Marte with a pitch to coax Manager Dusty Baker out of the dugout. “If I made one quality pitch I followed it up with a subpar (one)”, he said.
First baseman Clint Robinson, who drove in a run in the fifth, scored in the seventh on the combination of a wild pitch by reliever Neftali Feliz and a throwing error by catcher Eric Fryer.
Last night’s win left the Nationals 55-36 overall on the year, which is the third-best record in the majors, behind only the Chicago Cubs (54-35) and San Francisco Giants (57-34).
“I pride myself… on going as long as I can and as hard as I can”, Roark said. “That’s what starting pitchers are supposed to do”.
Rendon’s RBI single put Washington up 1-0 in the first.
Stephen Drew was 3 for 3 with three doubles after he lined a two-base hit to right off Jonathon Niese to start the Nats’ half of the sixth inning, but he was stranded there three outs later. Cole entered Saturday 2-0 with a 1.74 ERA in three career starts against the Nationals. Against Washington, he allowed seven hits and walked two.
Murphy is dealing with left hamstring tightness and was a late scratch from the Nationals’ lineup Friday.
Feliz then served up a two-run homer to Michael Taylor, the center fielder’s seventh of the season, as Washington broke the game open.
This Day in D.C. Baseball History: Bryce Harper became the youngest player ever to start for the National League in the All-Star Game. “He could have done it getting out of the bathtub”, Baker said. “You’re just trying to not take any unnecessary risks”.
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“It all comes back to game awareness”, manager Clint Hurdle said. Polanco, out since July 8, is not expected to play Sunday, but Hurdle stated, “We’re optimistic” with his progress. He had allowed one run and four hits through six innings at that point. He threw a no-hitter against Pittsburgh on June 20, 2015.
