Nationals dominate early, stretch Pirates' losing streak to 9

Jun. 16—For those wondering if the Pittsburgh Pirates finally were destined to end their losing streak, the question was answered early.

On their way to an 8-1 victory Tuesday night at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., the Washington Nationals scored five runs in the first inning, and the Pirates (23-43) never threatened. The result was the Pirates' losing streak reaching nine games.

The Pirates haven't won since June 5, and they have scored only 21 runs in the nine defeats.

"They're handling it well," manager Derek Shelton said. "That's not to say that they're not frustrated. They are frustrated after losing nine games in a row. We've got to figure out amongst ourselves how we bounce out of it."

The Nationals (29-35) asserted dominance with two varieties of hits from five of their first six batters, and that all but decided the game.

Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Juan Soto and former Pirate Josh Harrison singled against starter Tyler Anderson for the first run, with each hit leaving the bat at less than 84 mph.

After Ryan Zimmerman struck out, Yan Gomes was a bit more decisive in his at-bat, driving a four-seam fastball 400 feet into the left-field seats at 100.8 mph for a grand slam.

"He gave up one hard-hit ball that inning," Shelton said. "He gave up four balls off the end of the bat that fell in front of our outfielders. He tried to execute a pitch into Gomes, and he left it too much on the plate, and he hit it for the grand slam.

"The first inning was more about the grand slam than anything else."

Overall, the Nationals collected six hits in the inning, 13 in the game. Former Pirate Jordy Mercer, who finished with three hits, singled after Gomes' blast. He started at third base and made a diving stop of Jacob Stallings' ground ball near the line in the sixth inning and nailed him with a strong throw.

The Nationals' six hits in the inning equaled the amount the Pirates managed in eight innings against Washington starter Patrick Corbin, who came into the game with a 6.21 ERA.

"We got to give him credit. We ran into a really good pitcher," Shelton said. "I think we got a little passive and he started to spin the breaking ball on the plate. We got on our heels a little bit instead of staying in attack mode."

The Nationals added a sixth run in the fourth inning when Turner's triple knocked in Victor Robles, who had walked. They also scored twice in the eighth on Robles' double and Schwarber's sacrifice fly against relief pitcher Duane Underwood.

Anderson (3-7) lasted six innings and 102 pitches, allowing 10 hits, one walk and six runs, raising his ERA from 4.52 to 4.89. He hasn't won a game since May 9.

Anderson said he wasn't entirely unhappy with his pitches in that fateful first inning.

"That's one of those where you feel like you're making pretty good pitches and they're not falling the way you want them to," he said. "We were trying to go fastball in (to Gomes). It wasn't all the way to the corner.

"In that situation (bases loaded), you're trying to force contact. You don't want to walk anybody. I probably could have got it over another inch or two to make it a little safer, but he probably was just looking for a heater there."

The Pirates avoided a shutout in the seventh inning after Gregory Polanco reached base on an infield single and scored on Phillip Evans' double.

Adam Frazier, who was hitting .332, was given a scheduled night off from the starting lineup. But after Evans' double, he struck out while pinch-hitting.

NOTE: The Pirates sent outfielder Jose Berroa to the Baltimore Orioles for catcher Taylor Davis in a trade of minor league players. Davis, who was assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis, hit .289 (11 for 38) with three doubles and five RBIs in 12 games this season with Triple-A Norfolk.

Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry by email at jdipaola@triblive.com or via Twitter .