Pirates start slow, but furiously come back to beat Nationals 5-3

The Pittsburgh Pirates are raising the jolly roger once again after a 5-3 win to close their four-game set against the Washington Nationals.

With the win, the Pirates won their first series of 2022 and improve to 5-4 on the young season.

However, for most of the game, it didn’t seem like this was going to be the outcome.

The Nats held the Pirates scoreless through six innings and tacked on three runs in the second inning off starting pitcher Jose Quintana.

Outside of the lousy second inning, Quintana looked sharp and handed the ball to Wil Crowe in the fifth inning.

Crowe dominated once again, pitching 2.2 scoreless innings and maintaining his clean 0.00 ERA for the year.

Crowe eventually became the winning pitcher thanks to a jolt of offense from the Buccos in the sixth and seventh innings.

Diego Castillo and Ben Gamel knocked in runs to cut the deficit to 3-2 in the sixth and Michael Chavis’ at-bat drove in two runs to give the Pirates a 4-3 lead. Yoshi Tsutsugo provided an insurance run as the next batter to make it a 5-3 lead.

Then, Heath Hembree and David Bednar brought it home, with Bednar logging his first save of the season.

With the win, the Pirates have some momentum as they go back on the road to face the Milwaukee Brewers in a three-game set beginning Monday evening at 7 p.m. EST.