Washington Nationals and Pittsburgh Pirates meet in game 2 of series

Pittsburgh Pirates (44-45, fourth in the NL Central) vs. Washington Nationals (46-43, fourth in the NL East)

Washington; Saturday, 11:05 a.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Braxton Ashcraft (8-3, 3.33 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 115 strikeouts); Nationals: Zack Littell (7-6, 5.29 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 49 strikeouts)

LINE: Pirates -169, Nationals +138; over/under is 10 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Washington Nationals host the Pittsburgh Pirates, leading the series 1-0.

Washington has a 46-43 record overall and an 18-25 record at home. The Nationals are 19-8 in games when they did not allow a home run.

Pittsburgh is 44-45 overall and 21-23 on the road. The Pirates have the third-ranked team on-base percentage in the NL at .338.

The teams meet Saturday for the sixth time this season. The Nationals lead the season series 3-2.

TOP PERFORMERS: Luis Garcia has a .283 batting average to lead the Nationals, and has 15 doubles, three triples and 18 home runs. Daylen Lile is 11 for 38 with two home runs and six RBIs over the last 10 games.

Brandon Lowe leads the Pirates with 41 extra base hits (20 doubles, a triple and 20 home runs). Esmerlyn Valdez is 18 for 35 with four doubles, a triple, four home runs and 11 RBIs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Nationals: 5-5, .256 batting average, 4.96 ERA, outscored opponents by six runs

Pirates: 5-5, .300 batting average, 5.48 ERA, outscored opponents by eight runs

INJURIES: Nationals: Josiah Gray: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jake Irvin: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Trevor Williams: 60-Day IL (elbow), DJ Herz: 60-Day IL (elbow), Mitchell Parker: 60-Day IL (elbow), Richard Lovelady: 15-Day IL (tricep), Max Kranick: 60-Day IL (elbow), Ken Waldichuk: 60-Day IL (forearm)

Pirates: Wilber Dotel: 15-Day IL (lat), Chris Devenski: 60-Day IL (illness), Spencer Horwitz: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Oneil Cruz: 10-Day IL (hand)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.