Doumit, Jones lead Pirates over Nationals

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

Pittsburgh Pirates manager John Russell expected Ryan Doumit and Garrett Jones, two of the few non-rookies in his lineup, to break out of their slumps sooner or later.

They did it Friday night.

Doumit had three hits, including a home run, and two RBIs, and Garrett Jones drove in three runs to lead the Pirates to an 8-5 victory over the Washington Nationals.

“They’re both the kind of hitters who are going to have some down times,” Russell said. “But they’re also good major league hitters. You know at some point they’ll hit.”

Doumit had been hitting just .215 in 20 games being activated from the disabled list Aug. 7 after missing 15 games with a concussion. He got a rare start at catcher with most of his action in recent weeks coming in right field while Chris Snyder took over as the starter behind the plate. Doumit is hitting .281 when he is catching but .175 when he plays other positions.

Jones, mired in a 7-for-50 slump coming in and batting .144 in 31 games since July 28, doubled home two runs in a three-run third inning that put the Pirates ahead 3-1 and added an RBI double in a four-run fifth that pushed the lead to 8-1.

“It just felt good to hit a couple of balls hard again, especially with runners in scoring position,” Jones said. “The most frustrating part when you’re slumping is that you know you’re not helping the team. It feels really good to get a couple of big hits that helped result in a win that we needed.”

The Pirates won for just the second time in seven games while handing Washington its third straight loss.

Pittsburgh’s three rookie regulars also made contributions as Pedro Alvarez hit a two-run double in the fifth, Jose Tabata had two hits and two RBIs and Neil Walker extended his hitting streak to 10 games.

Zach Duke (7-12) pitched five innings for the win and left after failing to retire any of the four batters he faced in the sixth inning.