Nationals top punchless Pirates, who follow win by suffering 2nd shutout in 3-day span

Mitch Keller squatted on the infield grass next to a kneeling Henry Davis, and the Pittsburgh Pirates battery watched as trainers tended to Washington Nationals third baseman Paul DeJong.

When Keller’s fastball stayed up and inside and hit DeJong in the face, it was the start of what soon spiraled into a two-run inning. After Dylan Crews singled to right and stole second base, Nasim Nunez hit a broken-bat single to shallow center to drive in both runners.

That was all the offense the Nationals needed for a 3-0 win over the punchless Pirates on Tuesday night before 8,340 at PNC Park, where the temperatures were in the low 40s with rainfall.

It was the third shutout loss this season for the Pirates (6-12) and their second in three games, after a 4-0 loss Sunday at the Cincinnati Reds.

The Pirates followed a 14-hit performance in Monday’s 10-3 win by mustering only three in seven scoreless innings against Nationals right-hander Jake Irvin (1-0), who had six strikeouts against one walk. After allowing four runs in the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 9, Irvin stretched his streak of scoreless innings to a dozen. The Pirates finished with four hits.

Keller (1-2) allowed three runs on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts over six innings for his third quality start in four appearances this season. But it was the second consecutive start where the Pirates didn’t provide any run support while he was on the mound.

The Pirates right-hander got off to a rough start when James Wood drilled his full-count fastball 445 feet to center for his first career leadoff home run to give the Nationals a 1-0 lead. It was Wood’s fifth homer in the past 12 games and sixth of the season.

The Pirates avoided disaster on a pair of plays in the outfield in the third. Wood hit a fly ball to left field, but center fielder Oneil Cruz drifted so far over that he had to hop over Jack Suwinski as he made the catch to avoid a collision. With runners on second and third, Suwinski saved runs from scoring by chasing down Josh Bell’s line drive to the corner for the final out.

Nunez started the fifth with a single to left, and Jacob Young reached when Keller and first baseman Enmanuel Valdez converged on a bunt back to the mound, leaving first base uncovered. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch, but Keller got Nathaniel Lowe to ground out to first to escape the jam.

Keller couldn’t avoid disaster in the sixth. With two outs, his 92.7-mph fastball hit DeJong and forced him to leave the game. He was replaced by pinch runner Amed Rosario, who went from first to third on a single to right by Crews, who then stole second base. Nunez hit a broken-bat single to center to score both runners and give the Nationals a 3-0 lead.

The Pirates got no offense from their top four hitters, as Cruz, Bryan Reynolds, Ke’Bryan Hayes and Valdez combined to go 0 for 16 with seven strikeouts.