Following consecutive offensive outbursts of 9+ runs, the Washington Nationals relied on their pitching staff to lead them to a 3-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday afternoon.
Jeremy Hellickson posted his first scoreless outing of the season and Sean Doolittle locked down a five-out save to clinch a sweep of the Pirates and hand Washington its fifth straight win.
May couldn’t have come at a better time for the Washington Nationals. Coming off an 11-16 April that marked the Nats’ lowest winning percentage for a calendar month since 2013, Washington needed a spark to get back in the NL East race.