In Pirates news tonight, fellow first-round MLB Draft picks Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg both provided quality starts for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals respectively on Saturday night.
Yet, in the only stat that really matters, Cole's team got the last laugh.
The Pirates defeated the Nationals 3-2, backing up a struggling Cole with three innings of perfect relief from Jered Hughes (3-1), Jeanmar Gomez and Mark Melancon.
Cole threw 112 pitches in just six innings, allowing ten baserunners while retiring the Nationals' side in order only once. Yet, Cole still gave up just two runs in those six frames, helping the Pirates win in front of the second sell-out crowd of the season at PNC Park.
Stephen Strasburg (3-4) gave up three runs on seven hits in seven innings, with one of those runs coming from Neil Walker's tenth home run for the Bucs.
The four-game series will conclude on Sunday as Nationals RHP (1-1, 3.93) matches up with Pirates LHP Francisco Liriano (0-4, 4.86).
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