Nationals tag Joe Musgrove early in dismantling of Pirates
After a one-night reprieve, the free-fall continues.
A six-run third inning did in starter Joe Musgrove, and the Pittsburgh Pirates managed just three singles off of Washington starter Patrick Corbin in an 11-1 Nationals win Wednesday night.
It was the Pirates’ 29th loss in 37 games since the All-Star break, another listless and lopsided defeat that brought them crashing back down to earth following Tuesday’s inspired win against the Nationals.
“It (stinks),” Musgrove said. “There’s not really much you can say about it. We are doing everything we can to come out of it. Guys are preparing the right way; we are just not getting the results we want.”
Josh Bell’s RBI double in the ninth inning Wednesday capped the Pirates’ fourth loss in five games, one that had manager Clint Hurdle answering questions afterward about his job security.
The few left among the 10,577 announced to be on hand cheered loudly — one part catharsis, one part sarcasm — when Reynolds scored in the ninth.
Before that moment, the Pirates did not get a runner to third base.
“There’s a lot of things we have to do better: we’re not scoring very much, we’re not pitching very well,” Musgrove said. “We’re getting spurts of it, but good teams are able to that over the course of the season, and we just haven’t really done that. You’ve got to stay positive; you’ve got to be able to have a short memory and put this stuff behind you and get ready for the best day.”
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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