Pittsburgh recently demoted left-hander Jon Niese to the bullpen and is trying to infuse some youth into the rotation with rookie right-hander Chad Kuhl getting the nod on Sunday.
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He didn’t surrender a hit for the first three innings but wasn’t as sharp throughout as Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg (13-0), who allowed one run and three hits in eight innings.
Pittsburgh starter Francisco Liriano (5-9) got the loss after allowing three runs and five hits in six-plus innings.
Pirates: RHP Ryan Vogelsong, who has been out since May 23 when he was hit by a pitch and suffered three facial fractures, threw six scoreless innings in a rehab start for Double-A Altoona.
Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Jung Ho Kang, left, of South Korea, left, prepares to tag out Washington Nationals’ Bryce Harper, right, on a hit by Anthony Rendon during the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, July 16, 20. Washington All-Star 2B Daniel Murphy (hamstring) sat out the last two games and is day-to-day.3. The Nationals have won five straight games. He faced the minimum number of batters and didn’t allow a hit through four, wiggling out of trouble twice before giving way to Shawn Kelley for the ninth.
The Pirates have dropped three in a row after a 9-1 stretch.
Tommy Pham had two of the Cardinals’ four homers and drove in four runs. Stephen Drew doubled three times, Danny Espinosa had an RBI double and even Roark himself pitched in with an RBI single. In Saturday night’s 6-0 win over the Pirates, Roark almost went the distance, stopping just short of his second career complete game with eight dominant shutout innings.
Pirates RHP Gerrit Cole (5-4, 2.77 ERA) returns from the DL and starts Saturday against Nationals RHP Tanner Roark (8-5, 3.01).
Cole’s first major league appearance since June 10 was delayed 71 minutes by rain.
ROCKIES 11, BRAVES 2: Colorado scored four times in the third inning and pinch-hitter Ryan Raburn had a grand slam in the ninth in a win at Atlanta. Only seven Major League Baseball pitchers since 1913 have started a season 13-0; coincidentally, the most recent was Strasburg’s Nats teammate, Max Scherzer, who started 13-0 with the Tigers in 2013, the only other pitcher to do so in the past 30 years.
Sean Rodriguez flashed some leather in the first inning when Clint Robinson hit a deep fly ball to right field.
Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle wouldn’t disclose a pitch count, saying “we’ll keep an eye on him”.
Rendon’s RBI single put Washington up 1-0 in the first. Back-to-back doubles by Drew and Danny Espinosa in the second added another run off Cole, a 19-game victor last season. Michael A. Taylor hit a two-run homer later in the inning off Feliz with Strasburg on second to make it 5-1.
“He got some grief for not pitching in the All-Star Game”, manager Dusty Baker said of Strasburg, who went 12-0 with a 2.62 ERA during the first half of the season and would’ve surely been on NL skipper Terry Collins’ short list to get the starting nod Tuesday at Petco Park.
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Murphy is dealing with left hamstring tightness and was a late scratch from the Nationals’ lineup Friday. Polanco, out since July 8, is not expected to play Sunday, but Hurdle stated, “we’re optimistic” with his progress.
