Schwarzesbrett » r Starling Marte was hit by a pitch and Tabata single

PITTSBURGH -- The Nationals stuck with their ace. The Pirates made them pay. Josh Harrison had a tiebreaking, two-out single two batters after Jose Tabata hit a sacrifice fly off of Stephen Strasburg in the seventh inning, and Pittsburgh handed Washington its fourth straight defeat, 3-2 Saturday night. Strasburg, who struck out 14 in a memorable major league debut against the Pirates almost four years ago, did not allow a hit Saturday until Walkers homer to centre with one out in the fourth. Pittsburgh managed just three more singles off Strasburg until the seventh, when Russell Martin led off with a single and went to third on a one-out double by Starling Marte before scoring on the sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Tabata. "(Strasburg) pitched very well," Washington manager Matt Williams said. "Of course, they got to him in that last inning but I want to give him a chance to get out of there with a tie game. He was still strong. Hes our ace, hes deserves a chance to get out of it and it didnt work out." Gerrit Cole left after six innings trailing by a run while facing Strasburg in the first matchup in the NL of No. 1 overall draft picks in nine years. Cole -- the top pick of the 2011 draft, two years after Strasburg went first -- allowed two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts. Strasburg (3-4) allowed three runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings. Strasburg insisted he wasnt losing his stuff as he crossed the 100-pitch plateau in the seventh. "My command was still pretty good," he said. "I got a pitch in on Martin and he dumped it into the outfield. I tried to pitch around a couple of guys. The pitch that killed me was the hanging curveball to Marte. That really set up the inning for them." Of the Harrison at-bat, Strasburg said: "Hes the type of hitter whos going to put the ball in play and he put it in the right place." Harrison followed pinch-hitter Travis Snider, whom the Nationals intentionally walked after Strasburg fell behind 2-0. "I was pretty much telling myself, I feel like Im seeing everything hes throwing," Harrison said of his seventh-inning at bat against Stephen Strasburg. "I was just looking to barrel something up." Neil Walker hit his 10th home run for the Pirates, who tied their season-best winning streak of four. Jered Hughes (3-1), Jeanmar Gomez and Mark Melancon each worked a perfect inning of relief for Pittsburgh. Melancon picked up his ninth save when he finished the Pirates majors-best 14th one-run victory. Ian Desmond hit his ninth homer for Washington (24-25), which has lost six of eight and fell under .500 for the first time this season. "Its tough -- were all trying very hard, trying to get back on track," Strasburg said. "I do think weve probably reached the point where were trying too hard and need to take a step back and let the game come to us." The bullpen backed up Cole, who allowed 10 baserunners and threw 112 pitches in six innings, retiring the side in order only once. Still, Pittsburgh won for the fourth time in five May starts by Cole. Wilson Ramos sawed-off, bloop single in the sixth scored Anthony Rendon to give the Nationals a 2-1 lead. Greg Dobbs went 2 for 4 for the Nationals. NOTES: The Mets Kris Benson (the No. 1 pick of the 1996 draft) faced Cincinnatis Paul Wilson (No. 1 overall in 1994) on May 16, 2005 -- the most recent occurrence of top picks facing each other in the NL. It happened in the American League two years ago (Kansas Citys Luke Hochevar vs. Tampa Bays David Price on Aug. 21, 2012). . 1B Adam LaRoche joined the Nationals in Pittsburgh and will be activated for Sundays game. Infielder Zach Walters was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse after Saturdays game to make room for LaRoche, who has been on the disabled list since May 10 because of a right quad strain. ... SS Desmonds homer gives the Nationals 17 this season from their middle infielders, most in the majors. . The four-game series wraps up Sunday when Washington RHP Doug Fister (1-1, 3.93) faces Pirates LHP Francisco Liriano (0-4, 4.86). Despite his record, Pittsburgh has won five of Lirianos past six starts. Wholesale Stitched Jerseys . TSN was honoured with several awards, with Rod Smith and James Duthie sharing the win for Best Sports Host for SportsCentre and the NHL: Season On The Brink coverage, respectively. Cheap Jerseys From China . If one fighter gases, he usually gets beat up pretty bad from that point on. https://www.wholesalejerseys2020.com/ . However, after review it became clear Kadri kicked the puck in. Wholesale Jerseys Online . Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone dismissed Tuesdays massive anti-government protest in Manama as "a lot of kids having a go at the police." "I dont think its anything serious at all," Ecclestone was quoted as saying in The Guardian newspaper on Wednesday. Wholesale Custom Jerseys . Bowditch, the 30-year-old Australian seeking his first PGA Tour title, shot a 4-under 68 to reach 12 under at TPC San Antonio. Matt Kuchar and Andrew Loupe were tied for second. Kuchar shot 65, and Loupe had a 70. ST. LOUIS -- Shelby Miller turned things around against his nemesis -- with some help from his friends. The St. Louis Cardinals right hander pitched 5 2-3 scoreless innings to lead his team to a 1-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates Friday night. That outing was in complete contrast to Millers history vs. Pittsburgh. Miller (2-2) entered the game with a 0-5 record and a 5.93 ERA against the Pirates. He allowed just three hits and four walks while striking out four. "Im excited to get a win in general" Miller said. "But, obviously, Ive struggled against Pittsburgh and theyre a tough team. Theyre lineups great and they got good starting pitching and a good offence. Theyre not easy to get out. "Thats the first one against them. Its good to get it out of the way." MIller said that he made just a few subtle changes, but they paid off. "I found some back door cutters," he said. "I ended going in a little bit more on righties and just kind of mixing it up a little differently." Pat Neshek, Kevin Siegrist, Carlos Martinez and Kevin Rosenthal followed Miller and preserved the shutout. Rosenthal struck out the side in the ninth for his seventh save in seven chances. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny wished his pitchers had some margin for error. "You kind of hate to keep doing that to these guys, having to be perfect," Matheny said. "The bullpen did a terrific job." Matt Holliday had three hits, a walk and drove in the only run with a first-inning double. Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina singled in the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak to 15 games, matching his career high set in 2007. Pirates starter Gerrit Cole (2-2) pitched seven innings and allowed a run on six hits with three walks and four strikeouts. The Pirates lost for the seventh time in nine tries. Pittsburgh has won just three of its last 12 games. "We kneew there would be challenges coming into the season," said Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle.dddddddddddd "Were getting to face our fair share of them in April. You just keep mounting up and you keep playing." St. Louis got the only run it would need in the first. Matt Carpenter led off with a bunt single down the third baseline and he went to second on Jon Jays fielders choice to first. Holliday then doubled to right, scoring Carpenter. "The guy has been playing for 15 years, he knows what hes doing," Cole said of Holliday. Pittsburgh had Miller on the ropes in the third, as singles by Cole and Jose Tabata and a walk to Neil Walker loaded the bases. But Miller got Andrew McCutchen to hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. In the eighth, Pittsburgh had runners on first and third with no one out against Martinez after pinch hitter Starling Marte was hit by a pitch and Tabata singled him to third. Martinez got Marte hung up on a fielders choice back to him for the first out. After an intentional walk to McCutchen, Martinez struck out Pedro Alvarez and Chris Stewart to end the threat. "I dont know if you can get much tougher," Matheny said. "You look at where we were in that lineup and how we got there. Hes done that a couple of times now, where hes just been able to focus in and get the job done." NOTES: Pittsburghs Francisco Liriano (0-3) will try to get in the victory column when he opposes Tyler Lyons (0-1) in the second game of the series Saturday. ... Cardinals shortstop Jhonny Peralta snapped an 0-for-22 streak with a fourth inning double. ... Pittsburgh catcher Russell Martin left the game after grounding out in the fifth with tightness in his left hamstring. ... This series is the last three games of a 26-game stretch against Central Division opponents to open the season for the Pirates. ' ' '