Timely two-out hitting helps Nats take care of business

WASHINGTON -- Following a two-and-a-half-hour rain delay and the potential for more precipitation on the weather radar, the Nationals did not waste any time taking care of business in the series finale against the Pirates.

Washington scored all of its runs in the first three innings of its 7-2 victory on Sunday at Nationals Park.

The Nats snapped the Bucs’ four-game winning streak and dealt them only their second loss in 13 games. In doing so, the Nationals avoided a series sweep after dropping both games of Saturday’s doubleheader.

“Pittsburgh [pounds] the zone, so we had to be ready,” manager Dave Martinez said. “We walked a little bit today, which we didn’t do the last couple games. But the bats were nice. They were crisp this game, and we had some good swings.”

The Pirates’ pitching staff ranks sixth in the National League in holding their opponents to a .233 batting average with two outs. But with a pair of outs in the first inning, Keibert Ruiz and Joey Meneses connected for back-to-back singles off Bucs starter Johan Oviedo. Jeimer Candelario then drove in his teammates with a two-run double to center field. Candelario, who tied for the most doubles in all of baseball (42) in 2021, has hit six doubles in his first 27 games this season.

“With two outs, try to have a quality at-bat,” Candelario said. “For me, right there, I was looking middle, and [I was] ready to put the barrel on the ball. He threw a pitch, and I put a good swing on it.”

The Nats were also down to their final out in the second inning, when Luis García came up to the plate with Lane Thomas and Victor Robles on second and third. García sent a single into right field that brought both baserunners home to give the Nationals a 4-0 advantage. Meneses, who tied his career high with four hits, grew the lead with a two-out, RBI single to bring home Ruiz.

"[Oviedo] left some breaking balls up,” said Pirates manager Derek Shelton. “We had the opportunity to get out of two of those innings and gave up two-out hits. We just can’t do that and expect to win games.”

Washington scored its final runs in the third frame to put the game out of reach early. With one out, Robles plated Dominic Smith and CJ Abrams from second and third base on a line-drive double to left field. The seven quick runs helped boost Josiah Gray (six innings, one run, six strikeouts) to his second win of the season.

“Stay in the at-bat, don’t give any at-bats away, put the ball in play,” said Martinez. “That’s something that we talk a lot about -- put the ball [in play], let the other teams make mistakes -- and [we] were able to put the ball in play today, and hit the ball hard.”

After being outscored 22-4 in Saturday’s doubleheader, the Nationals tallied their most runs since collecting 10 on April 22 against the Twins and finished three hits shy of their season high (18). Washington improved to 8-4 when scoring first.

“If we keep swinging the bat the right way,” said Candelario, “good things are going to happen.”