Washington Nationals (58-82, fifth in the NL East) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (50-90, fifth in the NL Central)
Pittsburgh; Friday, 6:35 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Nationals: Josiah Gray (0-2, 5.65 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 48 strikeouts) Pirates: Steven Brault (0-3, 5.61 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 18 strikeouts)
LINE: Pirates -130, Nationals +110; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Washington Nationals head to play the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday.
The Pirates are 30-39 on their home turf. The Pittsburgh pitching staff averages 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings, .
The Nationals have gone 25-43 away from home. Washington has hit 160 home runs as a team this season. Juan Soto leads them with 25, averaging one every 17.2 at-bats.
The Nationals won the last meeting 3-1. Paolo Espino earned his first victory and Josh Bell went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs for Washington. Chase De Jong registered his first loss for Pittsburgh.
TOP PERFORMERS: Bryan Reynolds leads the Pirates with 57 extra base hits and is batting .296.
Bell leads the Nationals with 46 extra base hits and is slugging .479.
LAST 10 GAMES: Pirates: 3-7, .234 batting average, 5.38 ERA, outscored by 10 runs
Nationals: 3-7, .261 batting average, 6.50 ERA, outscored by 20 runs
INJURIES: Pirates: Duane Underwood Jr.: (shoulder), Jose Soriano: (elbow), Chase De Jong: (knee), Blake Cederlind: (elbow), Trevor Cahill: (calf), JT Brubaker: (shoulder), Michael Chavis: (elbow).
Nationals: Stephen Strasburg: (neck), Joe Ross: (forearm), Kyle McGowin: (elbow), Will Harris: (hand), Steven Fuentes: (shoulder), Luis Avilan: (elbow), Gerardo Parra: (knee), Jordy Mercer: (calf).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
