PITTSBURGH (AP) — James Wood led off the game with a home run and Jake Irvin pitched seven scoreless innings to lead the Washington Nationals to a 3-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.
Irvin (1-0) allowed three hits, struck out six and walked one as the Nationals snapped a three-game losing streak. The Pirates never got a runner past second base in losing for the fourth time in five games.
Jose A. Ferrer and Kyle Finnegan pitched one inning each to finish the four-hitter. Finnegan notched his sixth save in as many opportunities.
The shutout came a night after the Pirates recorded a season high in runs scored while beating the Nationals 10-3.
Mitch Keller (1-2) gave up three runs and six hits in six innings while striking out three and walking two.
Wood hit a drive to the concourse in right-center field on Keller’s sixth pitch of the game to give the Nationals a quick lead with his sixth homer of the season. The score remained 1-0 until the sixth when Nasim Nunez hit a two-run single with two outs.
Paul DeJong was hit in the face by a pitch from Keller with two outs and the bases empty. Dylan Crews singled and stole second before Nunez delivered.
Nunez and Nathaniel Lowe had two hits each for the Nationals.
Jack Suwinski had two hits for the Pirates and made a fine running catch on the left-field warning track.
Key moment
The Pirates had runners on first and second while trailing 1-0 in the fifth, but Irvin got Isiah Kiner-Falefa to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Key stat
Wood hit the first leadoff home run in his 96-game career.
Up next
Mitchell Parker (2-0, 1.96 ERA) will start for the Nationals against Bailey Falter (0-2, 7.20) on Wednesday night in a matchup of left-handers in the third game of the four-game series.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
John Perrotto, The Associated Press
