Game 77 lineups: Nats vs. Pirates

Don’t look now, but the Nationals have won five of their last seven. Would you believe that’s their best seven-game stretch since June 2021, when they went on a month-long surge to give everybody false hope before it all came crumbling down in July? They’ll try to make it six of their last eight tonight when they host the Pirates in the second of this three-game series.

The rotation has been excellent during this run, with one notable exception: Patrick Corbin, who was knocked out after four innings Wednesday night in the rain-shortened game in Baltimore. The other starters have been doing their job recently. The Nats would love for Corbin to keep it going and join the others tonight.

The Nationals also would like to get more production in clutch situations than they did Monday night. Even though they wound up winning, 3-2, they had only one hit in 12 at-bats with runners in scoring position: Maikel Franco’s game-winning homer in the bottom of the eighth. They could use more situational hitting tonight against veteran left-hander José Quintana, who had a 2.19 ERA over his first seven starts but has seen that number skyrocket to 5.18 over his last seven.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES vs. WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:055 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 79 degrees, wind 5 mph left field to right field

NATIONALS
LF Lane Thomas
RF Juan Soto
1B Josh Bell 
DH Nelson Cruz
3B Maikel Franco
2B César Hernández 
SS Alcides Escobar
C Riley Adams 
CF Victor Robles

LHP Patrick Corbin

PIRATES
3B Ke'Bryan Hayes
CF Bryan Reynolds
SS Oneil Cruz 
1B Michael Chavis 
DH Josh VanMeter
RF Diego Castillo 
LF Jack Suwinski 
C Tyler Heineman 
2B Hoy Park 

LHP José Quintana