4-run second inning sinks Nationals in loss to Pirates

Usually the Washington Nationals are the beneficiary of the one big inning that gives them a huge lead to deflate their opponent’s momentum.

In Saturday’s 7-1 loss, the Nationals were on the other side of that equation. A four-run second inning by the Pirates sunk the Nationals as they dropped the middle game of the three-game series.

Right fielder James Wood hit his seventh leadoff homer of the season to tie the game 1-1, an absolute blast that went an estimated 428 feet and hit the face of the third deck in right field.

“I wish I could do it all the time,” he said. “But that’s baseball, so when it does happen, it feels pretty good.”

The Nationals ran into trouble in the second as the Pirates got to left-hander Carson Palmquist — though not with hard contact. Two singles and a hit by pitch loaded the bases and ended Palmquist’s day on the mound.

Right-hander Zack Littell came in and yielded a run after allowing an RBI single to catcher Henry Davis on a chopper to third base that Curtis Mead bobbled as he transferred to throw. He rebounded to strike out shortstop Konnor Griffin for the first out of the inning, but conceded a two-run single to Brandon Lowe.

Littell induced a pop up from Bryan Reynolds, then allowed an RBI single to right fielder Esmerlyn Valdez, who was caught stealing to end the inning. Five singles led to four runs for the Pirates that gave them control of the game. Three of the runs were charged to Palmquist, one to Littell.

The right-hander pitched well after the second, holding the Pirates scoreless over the next five frames, and saw his season ERA decrease from 5.29 to 5.02.

“I thought he did a really good job throughout the whole outing,” manager Blake Butera said. “It’s tough spot to come into, but the ability that he had to get us deep into the game there and throw the ball well and keep them at bay and give us a chance to get back in the game — even though we didn’t today — was really big for us."

Given his experience coming out of the bullpen, Littell is used to entering a game with the bases loaded and needing to try and limit the damage.

“Knew that I had a good process,” he said. “We got ahead of guys, we made pitches on the edges, [it] wasn’t like we were barreled into the gap, where it’s like, ‘OK, we got to figure something out.’”

After exploding in Friday’s game, Washington’s offense was largely quiet. Pittsburgh right-hander Braxton Ashcraft had really good stuff Saturday and was aggressive getting ahead of hitters. His fastball sat at 97.4 mph. He allowed one run on six hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.

Following Wood’s homer in the first, Ashcraft struck out Luis García Jr., Mead and CJ Abrams. The Nationals had just two base runners in the second and third inning — a second-inning single by Jose Tena, and a third-inning one-out walk from Wood — and weren’t able to capitalize.

The Nationals (46-44) started building momentum in the fourth inning. Left fielder Daylen Lile singled, stole second base and advanced to third on center fielder Dylan Crews’ single that got past Griffin. This would be one of the few scoring opportunities for Washington, and they squandered it after Tena grounded into an inning-ending double play.

In the seventh, the Nationals looked to be threatening again with runners on first and second and no outs. Then, Nasim Nuñez grounded into a double play. Wood drew a walk to prolong the inning, but pinch hitter Andrés Chaparro struck out to end it.

Nationals right-hander Riley Cornelio entered in eighth and struggled, allowing a run to score after yielding three singles. Then with runners on first and second with one out, he induced a groundball to get Nick Gonzalez on the force out at second base. Jake Magnum stole second and back-to-back walks brought in a run to put the Nationals in a 7-1 deficit.