Pirates’ winning streak ends at 8

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Joe Ross struck out 11 in his third major league start, and the Washington Nationals beat A.J. Burnett and the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1 on Friday night to end their eight-game winning streak.

The 22-year-old Ross (2-1) allowed one run, six hits and a walk in 71/3 innings.

Burnett (6-3) gave up 14 hits, the most in a career that began in 1999. The 38-year-old did, however, strike out seven to move past Andy Pettitte into 37th place on the career list with 2,451.

Wilson Ramos had two hits and two RBIs for the Nationals, who ended a four-game home losing streak. Washington stranded nine and went 4 for 17 with runners in scoring position.

Washington played without star right fielder Bryce Harper, who strained his left hamstring on Thursday night. Harper avoided the disabled list, although that could still happen if he’s slow to recover from the injury.

Drew Storen worked the ninth for his 20th save.

Burnett gave up four runs, three earned, in 62/3 innings.

Pittsburgh pitchers had a 0.69 ERA during the eight-game run, including a five-hit shutout by Burnett against Philadelphia on Sunday.

Nationals manager Matt Williams talked before the game about having his team be more aggressive to help boost the offense, an approach that became evident in a two-run first inning.

Denard Span led off with a single and took third on a hit-and-run single by Anthony Rendon. With Yunel Escobar batting, Rendon broke for second and reached the base on a run-scoring groundout before Ramos capped the uprising with an RBI double.

Gregory Polanco singled in a run for Pittsburgh in the second, and Ramos made it 3-1 with a third-inning RBI single.

Washington made it 4-1 in the seventh with an RBI triple by Danny Espinoza. Polanco left the game after banging into the wall in right field trying to make the catch.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Pirates: Jung Ho Kang started at 3B and Josh Harrison moved to 2B because Neil Walker was experiencing “stomach discomfort,” according to manager Clint Hurdle.

Nationals: RHP Stephen Strasburg (neck) is scheduled to throw a bullpen session today.

UP NEXT

Pirates: Francisco Liriano (4-5, 2.94 ERA) starts today against the Nationals. He’s 3-1 with a 1.29 ERA in his last five starts.

Nationals: Max Scherzer (7-5, 1.93) looks for an encore to his last outing, a one-hit shutout of Milwaukee with 16 strikeouts.

BABY ON BOARD

Nationals RHP Tanner Roark was placed on the paternity list and RHP Taylor Hill was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse.