Pittsburgh Pirates vs Washington Nationals Match Player Stats On Oct 01, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Oct 1, 2017

WASHINGTON -- Max Moroff delivered a bases-loaded double in the first inning and walked with the sacks full in the eighth as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Washington Nationals 11-8 on Sunday in the longest nine-inning game in the history of both teams.

The contest lasted 4 hours, 22 minutes.

Jacob Stallings added three run-scoring hits for Pittsburgh.

The Nationals (97-65) failed to set a franchise record for wins in a season but will take the second-best record in the league into their home game Friday in the opener of the National League Division Series against the Chicago Cubs.

The Pirates (75-87) finished with a losing record for the second year in a row.

Pittsburgh scored five runs in the top of the first.

The first run came as Jordan Luplow was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Moroff followed with a three-run double down the left field line. Stallings, the No. 8 hitter, came up next and had a run-scoring double to make it 5-0.

Washington's Anthony Rendon hit a three-run homer in the last of the first off Steven Brault to trim the margin to 5-3. That gave Rendon 100 RBIs on the year, and he finished with 25 homers.

In the third, the Nationals' Jayson Werth hit his 300th career double to drive in a run in third to trim the margin to 5-4.

Pittsburgh's David Freese had an RBI single in the fifth to make it 6-4 and end the day for Washington starter Gio Gonzalez (15-9). Gonzalez gave up seven hits and six runs with three walks and two strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.

Stallings had another RBI double in the sixth off Tanner Roark, and Starling Marte drove in a run with a fielder's choice for an 8-4 lead.

Washington's Michael A. Taylor hit a solo homer to lead off the seventh to cut the deficit to 8-5. It was the 19th homer of the year for Taylor. Adrian Sanchez (2-for-3) had an RBI double to make it 8-6.

However, the Pirates' Josh Bell hit an RBI single in the eighth for a 9-6 lead off Oliver Perez, and the walk by Moroff made it 10-6. Stallings drove in a run with an infield single for an edge of 11-6.

Angel Sanchez (1-0) allowed no runs in two innings and got his first big league victory.

The Nationals scored two unearned runs in the ninth with two outs before George Kontos got the last out for his first save of the year.

Daniel Murphy, Trea Turner, Bryce Harper and Alejandro De Aza added two hits apiece for Washington. Christopher Bostick, Bell and Marte had two hits for the Pirates. Marte ends the year with a 12-game hitting streak.

NOTES: Pittsburgh CF Andrew McCutchen, the subject of trade rumors last winter, was lifted for a pinch runner after he doubled in the fifth. He finished the year with 28 homers and 88 RBIs. ... Washington 1B Ryan Zimmerman, who had a career-high 36 homers this year, was taken out for 1B Adam Lind at the start of the top of the fourth to a round of applause. ... GM Neal Huntington said before the game that if the Pirates keep McCutchen it would be to play center field. He also said he expects all members of the coaching staff to return. ... Washington RHP Max Scherzer, who left his start in the fourth inning Saturday with a hamstring issue, said he hopes to be ready for the playoffs but did not guarantee he would be ready to start Game 1.