Josh Bell’s triumphant return to Pittsburgh was all set until the Washington Nationals’ bullpen showed up.
The switch-hitting first baseman, acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates in a December trade, hit his team-leading 26th homer and scored another run in front of an appreciative Pittsburgh crowd.
But with the Nationals in position to win the game in the ninth, Patrick Murphy and Alberto Baldonado took just two-thirds of an inning to ruin Bell’s big night, as well as 6 2⁄3 strong innings from lefty Josh Rogers, and the Pirates walked off on the Nats, 4-3.