García and Lile each homer twice as the Nationals rout the Pirates 9-5

WASHINGTON (AP) — Luis Garcia Jr. and Daylen Lile each homered twice, and Jose Tena also went deep for Washington as the Nationals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-5 on Friday night.

Foster Griffin (9-2) allowed a run and four hits in five innings, lowering his ERA to 2.87 for the Nationals. Washington has won five of six.

Bryan Reynolds homered for Pittsburgh. Mitch Keller (6-6) allowed five runs and eight hits in six innings.

The temperature at game time was 100 degrees, and the ball was certainly carrying. García opened the scoring in the first with his 17th homer of the season, a solo shot to right. An inning later, Lile hit a 417-foot drive to center to make it 2-0.

Reynolds' solo homer to center in the third went 426 feet to get the Pirates on the board, but after James Wood led off the bottom half with a triple, Tena hit a two-run shot — also to center — that went 434 feet.

Lile's RBI double later that inning made it 5-1.

García connected again in the seventh, hitting a two-run shot off reliever Isaac Mattson. Lile's second homer was a two-run drive in the eighth.

Brandon Lowe, Reynolds and Esmerlyn Valdez hit consecutive RBI doubles in the ninth for the Pirates, and Nick Gonzales added another one an out later.

Griffin improved to 5-0 in his last nine starts, with the Nationals going 8-1 in those games. He's allowed one run or fewer in six straight outings, although he had only two strikeouts Friday, his fewest since April 11.

Up next

Zack Littell (7-6, 5.29 ERA) starts for Washington against Pittsburgh's Braxton Ashcraft (8-3, 3.33) on Saturday in a July 4 game set to start at 11:05 a.m.

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