Nick Gonzales set tone for the Pirates, who had more walks than hits against Nationals

Nick Gonzales hadn’t drawn a walk in 72 at-bats over a 16-game span, so it was worth noting when the Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman watched four consecutive pitches without taking a swing.

After hitting a two-out single to drive in two runs and give the Pirates the lead in the second inning, Gonzales came to the plate with two outs, the bases loaded and a new pitcher on the mound in the sixth inning of a 9-4 win over the Washington Nationals on Thursday night at PNC Park.

Instead of getting greedy, Gonzales drew his first walk since July 14.

“I think when you get guys on base like that, have more walks than strikeouts, you put your offense in a good position to keep the bat rolling and get runs across,” said Gonzales, who finished with a team-high three RBIs.

Gonzales set the tone for the Pirates, who drew a season-high nine walks (one intentional) to finish with more bases on balls than hits (eight) against the Nationals. It was a resounding rebound from the Pirates’ 12-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night at Wrigley Field, when Cubs starter Shota Imanaga (seven innings) and relievers Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge (one each) combined for a no-hitter.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton was impressed with his team’s offensive approach and said he believes their patience at the plate put a “ton of pressure” on the Nationals, “especially when guys come in and they can’t command the zone, then you can really shrink the zone down and we didn’t chase.”

Four of the Pirates players who walked scored runs. And they added two more with the bases loaded against Nationals rookie reliever Eduardo Salazar, who followed the four-pitch walk of Gonzales by walking first baseman Rowdy Tellez on five pitches to score another run.

“I think when you draw walks, you put yourself in good situations to be in hitter’s counts,” Tellez said. “No pitcher wants to throw one down the middle, so they start pressing a little bit. You shrink the zone and you’ve got a lot of guys on base, it adds pressure. We got a lot of action on the basepaths, and I think that was a big big thing.”

It was the 12th walk in 308 plate appearances this season for Gonzales, who owns a .039 walk percentage and has a reputation for swinging away.

“He’s got plate discipline. He’s just got really good bat-to-ball skills, too,” Tellez said. “Guys like that just don’t get a lot of walks. But he had a great game. He set the tempo with a big hit in the (second) inning, where we batted around. He put up that two-RBI knock and gave us some leeway to put up more runs.”

Gonzales came to bat in the sixth after Bryan De La Cruz singled, Bryan Reynolds was intentionally walked and Oneil Cruz was hit by a pitch by Joe LaSorsa.

Salazar sandwiched a pair of sinkers low and away around two four-seam fastballs above the strike zone.

Gonzales didn’t bite on any of the pitches, instead showing a willingness to take a walk.

“That’s being a good teammate, too,” Tellez said. “Knowing what you’re capable of and trusting everything that you’re going to do.”