EATON, KENDRICK HOMER IN 8TH, NATS RALLY PAST PIRATES 3-2

WASHINGTON 3, PITTSBURGH 2

WHEN: 4:05 PM ET, Saturday, April 13, 2019

WHERE: Nationals Park, Washington, District of Columbia

TEMPERATURE: 72° 

UMPIRES: Home - Nic Lentz, 1B - Kerwin Danley, 2B - Mark Carlson, 3B - Scott Barry

ATTENDANCE: 32103

Adam Eaton hit his first homer of the season and Howie Kendrick also added a blast with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Washington Nationals rallied to beat the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2 on Saturday.

Eaton (three hits) and Kendrick went back-to-back against Richard Rodriguez (0-1), who took over for starter Chris Archer.

The winning pitcher was Wander Suero (1-0), who pitched a scoreless eighth, while Sean

Doolittle got the save despite allowing two baserunners in the ninth.

Melky Cabrera hit a solo homer off Washington starter Anibal Sanchez in the sixth to break a 1-1 tie.

The homer came on an 0-2 pitch from Sanchez after Washington reliever Justin Miller gave up a three-run homer in the 10th on Friday on an 0-2 pitch to pinch hitter Colin Moran. Since the start of the 2018 season, the Nationals have allowed 17 homers on 0-2 pitches, according to Mid-Atlantic Sports Network.

The Nationals had tied the game at 1-1 in the last of the fourth as Anthony Rendon led off with a double and scored on a two-out single by Kurt Suzuki.The double gave Rendon a career-high hitting streak of 12 games. He also has an extra-base hit 10 straight games, a Nationals franchise record. Rendon is hitting .412 with six homers and 16 RBIs.

Josh Bell of the Pirates tripled in the top of the fourth when left fielder Juan Soto couldn't come up with his liner. Moran then followed with an RBI double for a 1-0 lead.

Sanchez went seven innings and allowed two runs on seven hits with two strikeouts and a walk. He threw 100 pitches -- 63 for strikes.

Archer gave up just one run on four hits with nine strikeouts in seven innings against the Nationals.

Archer is appealing his suspension for his involvement in a fight with the Cincinnati Reds on April 7. Archer made his big-league debut in 2012 at Nationals Park while with Tampa Bay.

Matt Adams of the Nationals hit the first-base bag awkwardly when he grounded out to start the last of the seventh. He walked back slowly to the dugout and Ryan Zimmerman came on to play first for Adams in the top of the eighth.

NATIONALS RECORD

Anthony Rendon doubled to break a Nationals record with at least one-extra base hit in 10 straight games. He had shared the mark with Ryan Zimmerman. Rendon also extended his hitting streak to 12 games.

THIRD BASE SWITCH

Colin Moran earned the start at third base for Pittsburgh over Jung Ho Kang a day after hitting the go-ahead home run in the 10th inning as a pinch-hitter.

Kang entered Saturday batting just .108 (4 for 37) in 12 games. He then struck out in the ninth with two runners on.

He's trying to figure out how to do well again," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "I'm anticipating Moran will play again tomorrow and that will give (Kang) a three game break to work on some things in extended work time.

Moran went 1 for 4 with an RBI.

TRAINER'S ROOM

NATIONALS: RHP Justin Miller (lower back strain) was placed on the 10-day injured list. He pitched one inning in Friday's night loss to Pittsburgh and afterward manager Dave Martinez expressed concern about his fastball velocity.

Miller has made seven appearances this season for Washington posting a 5.68 ERA. RHP Austen Williams was recalled from Triple-A Fresno. The 26-year-old went 0-1 with a 5.59 ERA in 10 appearances out of the Washington bullpen in 2018.

UP NEXT

PIRATES: RHP Jameson Taillon (0-2, 3.00 ERA) has a 3.50 ERA in three career appearances against the Nationals. Pittsburgh's opening day starter lasted just two innings in his last appearance on Monday in Chicago.

NATIONALS: RHP Max Scherzer (1-2, 3.32) will make his fourth start of the season a day later than expected after dealing with right leg soreness. Scherzer is 11-10 in 32 career starts when coming off six or more days of rest.

TOP GAME PERFORMANCES

STARTING PITCHERS

PITTSBURGH		WASHINGTON
Chris Archer	Player	Anibal Sanchez
No Decision	W/L	No Decision
7.0	IP	7.0
9	Strikeouts	2
4	Hits	7
1.29	ERA	2.57

HITTING

PITTSBURGH		WASHINGTON
Melky Cabrera	Player	Adam Eaton
3	Hits	3
1	RBI	1
1	HR	1
6	TB	6
.750	Avg	.750

TEAM STATS SUMMARY

TEAM	HITS	HR	TB	AVG	LOB	K	RBI	BB	SB	ERRORS
Pittsburgh	8	1	15	.235	16	3	2	2	0	0
Washington	6	2	13	.214	8	10	3	2	0	1

SCORING SUMMARY

INNING				PIT	WSH
Pirates		4th	Moran doubled to right, Bell scored.	1	0
Nationals		4th	Suzuki singled to left, Rendon scored.	1	1
Pirates		6th	Cabrera homered to right (383 feet).	2	1
Nationals		8th	Eaton homered to right (421 feet).	2	2
Nationals		8th	Kendrick homered to left (435 feet).	2	3

FINAL SCORING SUMMARY

FINAL	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburgh	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	8	0
Washington	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	-	3	6	1

Pittsburgh

Hitters	Pos	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	LOB	Avg
Adam Frazier	2B	5	0	0	0	0	1	5	.275
Starling Marte	CF	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	.226
Francisco Cervelli	C	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	.214
Josh Bell	1B	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	.292
Colin Moran	3B	4	0	1	1	0	1	0	.273
Melky Cabrera	RF	4	1	3	1	0	0	1	.432
Jason Martin	PR	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.385
JB Shuck	LF	2	0	1	0	1	0	1	.286
Erik Gonzalez	SS	3	0	1	0	1	0	3	.231
Chris Archer	SP	3	0	1	0	0	0	1	.143
Richard Rodriguez	RP	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Jung Ho Kang	PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	.105
Totals		34	2	8	2	2	3	16
Batting
2B - Colin Moran (2), Erik Gonzalez (2)
3B - Josh Bell (1)
HR - Melky Cabrera (1)
TB - Josh Bell 3, Colin Moran 2, Melky Cabrera 6, JB Shuck, Erik Gonzalez 2, Chris Archer
RBI - Colin Moran (7), Melky Cabrera (4)
2-Out RBI - Melky Cabrera (3)
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Adam Frazier (3), Starling Marte (7), Erik Gonzalez (3)
S - JB Shuck (1)
GIDP - Adam Frazier (1)
Team LOB - 8

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	ERA
Chris Archer	7.0	4	1	1	2	9	0	2.00
Richard Rodriguez (L 0-1; BS 1)	1.0	2	2	2	0	1	2	6.75
Pitches-Strikes - Chris Archer 94-60, Richard Rodriguez 22-14
Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Chris Archer 6-3, Richard Rodriguez 0-2
Batters Faced - Chris Archer 25, Richard Rodriguez 5

Washington

Hitters	Pos	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	LOB	Avg
Adam Eaton	RF	4	1	3	1	0	0	0	.286
Howie Kendrick	2B	2	1	1	1	2	0	1	.600
Anthony Rendon	3B	4	1	1	0	0	0	3	.412
Juan Soto	LF	3	0	0	0	0	2	2	.250
Matt Adams	1B	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	.167
Wander Suero	RP	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Sean Doolittle	RP	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Kurt Suzuki	C	3	0	1	1	0	1	0	.263
Wilmer Difo	SS	3	0	0	0	0	3	1	.171
Anibal Sanchez	SP	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
Ryan Zimmerman	1B	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.200
Victor Robles	CF	3	0	0	0	0	3	0	.267
Totals		28	3	6	3	2	10	8
Batting
2B - Anthony Rendon (8)
HR - Adam Eaton (1), Howie Kendrick (2)
TB - Adam Eaton 6, Howie Kendrick 4, Anthony Rendon 2, Kurt Suzuki
RBI - Adam Eaton (5), Howie Kendrick (4), Kurt Suzuki (6)
2-Out RBI - Adam Eaton (1), Howie Kendrick (1), Kurt Suzuki (3)
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Juan Soto (2)
GIDP - Anthony Rendon 2 (2)
Team LOB - 3
Fielding
E - Howie Kendrick (1)

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	ERA
Anibal Sanchez	7.0	7	2	2	1	2	1	4.86
Wander Suero (W 1-0)	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6.35
Sean Doolittle (SV 1)	1.0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0.00
Pitches-Strikes - Anibal Sanchez 100-63, Wander Suero 11-7, Sean Doolittle 16-9
Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Anibal Sanchez 8-6, Wander Suero 1-0, Sean Doolittle 1-1
Batters Faced - Anibal Sanchez 29, Wander Suero 3, Sean Doolittle 5