Pittsburgh Pirates vs Washington Nationals: Game, Player Stats and Box Scores for September 5 

The Pittsburgh Pirates started their four-game home series against the Washington Nationals at PNC Park with a win on Thursday. Though both teams are not in contention for making the postseason this fall, they are testing their young squads and assessing their future.

The Nationals started the game with a bang, scoring three runs in the first innings. On the other hand, the Pirates came out all guns blazing, scoring five runs in the second, one more in the third and three runs in the sixth. While the Nationals did add one run in the ninth, they ended up suffering a 9-4 blowout defeat by the home team.

For the Pirates, second baseman Nick Gonzales contributed with three RBIs, while Isaac-Kaner Falefa, Bryan Reynolds, Rowdy Tellez, Yasmani Grandal and Jared Triolo all contributed with an RBI each. On the mound, Bailey Falter threw five innings for three runs, followed by Carmen Mlodzinksi and Dennis Santana and Kyle Nicolas putting shut-out innings each.

Andres Chapparo's three-run home run in the first was followed by an RBI from Juan Yepez in the ninth as the Nats' only scoring shot. Their starter, Jake Irvin gave up six earned runs in his five innings.

Pittsburgh Pirates vs Washington Nationals Game Player Stats

Pittsburgh Pirates game player stats

HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	BB	SO	LOB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	FPTS
I. Kiner-Falefa SS	5	1	1	1	0	0	2	2	.280	.323	.406	.729	2.0
B. Reynolds DH	4	2	1	1	0	1	0	0	.280	.347	.457	.804	7.0
O. Cruz CF	2	0	1	0	0	2	1	0	.268	.326	.460	.787	4.5
N. Gonzales 2B	4	0	1	3	0	1	0	2	.264	.296	.385	.682	5.0
R. Tellez 1B	3	0	0	1	0	1	1	2	.255	.304	.405	.709	1.5
C. Joe RF	3	2	1	0	0	1	0	3	.234	.321	.382	.703	5.0
Y. Grandal C	2	1	1	1	0	2	1	0	.221	.287	.379	.666	4.5
J. Triolo 3B	3	2	1	1	0	1	1	2	.206	.297	.304	.600	4.5
B. McKinney LF	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	.200	.286	.240	.526	-0.5
a- B. De La Cruz PH-LF	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	.243	.284	.394	.677	4.0
Total	30	9	8	8	0	9	7	15	-	-	-	-	-

Washington Nationals game player stats

HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	BB	SO	LOB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	FPTS
D. Crews RF	4	1	1	0	0	1	0	4	.216	.293	.432	.725	5.0
J. Wood LF	4	0	0	0	0	1	2	5	.271	.368	.419	.787	0.0
J. Yepez 1B	4	1	2	1	0	1	0	3	.287	.342	.454	.796	6.0
A. Chaparro DH	4	1	1	3	1	0	2	2	.233	.291	.466	.757	8.0
J. Tena 3B	5	0	2	0	0	0	2	3	.333	.360	.417	.777	1.0
I. Vargas 2B	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	4	.258	.306	.331	.637	1.0
J. Young CF	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.260	.320	.343	.663	0.0
K. Ruiz C	3	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	.224	.258	.362	.620	2.0
N. Nunez SS	2	1	2	0	0	1	0	0	.345	.441	.379	.820	5.0
Total	35	4	10	4	1	5	6	25	-	-	-	-	-

Andres Chapparo's 3-run home run tonight

While there were as many as 18 hits in the game – the Nationals with 10 and Pirates with eight – only one of them landed in the stands. That shot came off the bat of Andres Chapparo, who crushed the ball to left-center field for a 419-foot three-run home run in the first inning against Bailey Falter.

However, the home run was not enough against the consistent offense shown by the Pirates.

With the 9-4 win, the Pirates improved to 66-74 while the Nationals slid down to 62-78. The Pirates and Nationals are 10.0 and 14.0 games behind, respectively, of the last NL Wild Card spot. Both meet again on Friday for the second game of the four-game series.