Pirates drop 8th straight vs. Nationals in 3-2 loss

The Pirates may be allergic to winning baseball games.

Our beloved Buccos lost their eighth consecutive game, extending their season-long losing streak, in a 3-2 loss to the Washington Nationals in the series opener.

Today’s loss also marks nine consecutive road losses, with their last road win coming May 20 against the Braves.

Tonight, it looked promising when Kevin Newman got the Pirates on the board first with a homer in the second inning.

However, the Nats responded with two runs in the third on RBI’s from Kyle Schwarber and Juan Soto.

The third was JT Brubaker’s only inning in which he gave up a hit, as he went five innings tonight.

The Pirates went out in the top of the sixth with a chance to take advantage. Jacob Stallings kicked off the inning with a double and Kevin Newman singled two batters later, putting two men on with one out. Erik Gonzalez sac fly’d to score Stallings and tie the game, but the offense failed to record a hit after the sixth inning.

Derek Shelton went to the bullpen with the game tied 2-2 and put Chris Stratton in, who got out of the sixth with the score still tied.

In the seventh, Clay Holmes entered the game and surrendered a two-out home run to Kyle Schwarber, the eventual game-winner.

Tonight’s game was salvageable, but the Pirates couldn’t pull it together at the end. There were definitely some bright spots tonight with Brubaker’s solid start and Kevin Newman’s unexpected pop, but it was not enough to get the job done. They had chances and could not capitalize.

Tomorrow night the Pirates continue their three-game set with the Nationals. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m.