WASHINGTON — This road trip has been nothing short of brutal for the Pirates. A 10-inning loss at Tropicana Field on Friday. Then blowing a 5-3 lead and watching the Tampa Bay Rays walk it off against David Bednar a day later.
Tied at 1, Tampa scored three in the seventh en route to a similar win Sunday before the Nationals hit a two-run homer against Chris Stratton in the eighth inning Monday.
It happened again Tuesday. Tied at 1 once again, pinch-hitter Yadiel Hernandez delivered a two-out, two-run double that came off Wil Crowe and sailed over Diego Castillo’s head in right field, paving the way for a 3-1 Washington win at Nationals Park.
The Pirates fell to 29-45 on the year and 0-5 on this trip, as Mitch Keller will take the ball on Wednesday hoping to help Pittsburgh salvage at least one win.
The ball Hernandez hit off Crowe was a change-up that probably caught a little more of the strike zone than Crowe would have liked. It also brought with it another twisted sense of irony.
Castillo, a natural infielder, had made a pair of terrific catches in this game. However, he took an indirect route to this ball and looked like an infielder playing the outfield. If that was, say, Bryan Reynolds or Jack Suwinski, who knows whether it’s hauled in for the out.
Meanwhile, the Pirates struggled a bunch against Nationals starter Patrick Corbin, who allowed only a Castillo solo homer over eight innings, striking out 12.
Pirates starter Jose Quintana was also very good on Tuesday. His only shaky moment came in the first inning, when right fielder Juan Soto singled, and former Pirate Josh Bell gave the Nationals a second-and-third situation with his double.
Washington grabbed a 1-0 lead when designated hitter Nelson Cruz bounced a ball to Ke’Bryan Hayes at third base, and his only play was to go to first for the out.
Speaking of Hayes, the Pirates’ offense struggled to get much going early aside from two absolute lasers off his bat — a 110.9-mph single in the first and a 104.8 base hit off Corbin in the third. The Pirates had five plate appearances with two runners on base in those innings but struck out every time.
That situation — two Pirates on base — actually came back around in the fifth inning when Reynolds drew a two-out walk; however, Oneil Cruz smoked a 104.4-mph groundout to Bell, who flipped to Corbin for the out.
Castillo tied the game at 1 with his solo homer in the sixth inning, the blast continuing an impressive trend for the Pirates this season. The home run was their 26th of the season by a rookie, which leads Major League Baseball by a fairly wide margin.
Also, it was the sixth in the past 13 games for Castillo, who has been red hot of late. Castillo got a high-and-outside sinker from Corbin and drove it 399 feet the opposite way, the ball clearing the wall close to where Oneil Cruz’s bomb went Monday night.
Among MLB hitters, only Paul Goldschmidt (7) of the Cardinals has more homers than Castillo (6) since June 13. The only rookie in either league with more homers this month is Suwinski, who has seven.
On the opposite end of that spectrum, of course, resides Quintana, who reached an obscure milestone Tuesday. He has now pitched in all 30 active major league ballparks, checking the final one off the list with Nationals Park.
Quintana celebrated the occasion in helpful fashion, giving the Pirates six innings of one-run ball, walking two and striking out six. His biggest pitch might’ve been a 2-2 change-up on center fielder Victor Robles to notch an inning-ending strikeout with two aboard in the fourth.
The veteran southpaw also benefitted from a couple of terrific defensive plays by Castillo in right field. Castillo slid to rob Nelson Cruz in the third inning, somehow keeping the ball from popping out with the top of his right forearm.
Castillo’s second came on a looper to the gap from left fielder Lane Thomas in the fifth, Castillo sprinting a long way to catch this one.
The problem for the Pirates, of course, was that Corbin was a few ticks better than the Quintana and difficult to hit the entire night. Washington’s left-hander kept quiet a lefty-heavy Pittsburgh lineup over eight innings while picking up his first game with 10 or more strikeouts since Sept. 17, 2019.
Two of Corbin’s most frequent customers were Pittsburgh’s third and fourth hitters, Oneil Cruz and Michael Chavis, who combined for seven strikeouts.
Corbin has been excellent against the Pirates of late, too, allowing just four earned runs (1.54 ERA) over his past three starts totaling 23 1/3 innings, with five walks against 23 strikeouts.
