The Washington Nationals will play game two of the three against the Pittsburgh Pirates this afternoon at Nationals Park. The Nationals are scheduled to send left-handed pitcher Andrew Alvarez to the mound who has a 1-0 record and an 1.86 ERA. The Nationals are scheduled to face right-handed pitcher Bubba Chandler who has a 2-1 record and an 7.36 ERA from.

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Washington rallied from a 3-0 deficit Friday night, scoring twice in the sixth and adding four more in the seventh to edge Pittsburgh, 6-5. Dylan Crews delivered the decisive blow with a two-run homer in the seventh that gave the Nationals the lead for good. - The victory pushed Washington’s record to eight wins in its last 11 games.

Their 8-3 mark (.727) in September trails only Philadelphia (9-2, .818) in the National League and ranks third-best in all of MLB. - The Nationals’ 40 extra-base hits this month (19 doubles, 5 triples, 16 home runs) are second-most in the majors behind the Phillies’ 45. - Since Aug. 9, Washington has played .500 baseball with a 16-16 record over its last 32 games.

Dylan Crews has reached base in 24 of his last 29 games, posting 4 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs, 14 RBI, 12 walks, 2 hit-by-pitches, 4 stolen bases, and 15 runs scored. - On Sept. 12 against Pittsburgh, he delivered a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning. - Among NL rookies, he is tied for fourth with 14 stolen bases and ranks seventh with 9 home runs.

Josh Bell went 1-for-4 with two RBI on Friday night. He’s been red-hot at the plate, going 9-for-20 (.450) with four home runs, 15 RBI, and six runs scored over his last six games. The 15 RBI match the fourth-highest total in any six-game stretch in Nationals history (2005–present). - Since Aug. 8, Bell is slugging .515 with an .852 OPS across 30 games, collecting three doubles, seven homers, 20 RBI, and 11 walks while striking out just nine times in 110 plate appearances (8.1%). -

Over his last 35 plate appearances dating back to Sept. 2 vs. Miami, he has struck out only twice (5.7%).

James Wood went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored Friday, marking his team-leading 37th multi-hit game. He now ranks tied for third in the NL with 36 doubles and leads all of MLB with 15 doubles since Aug. 8. Wood has hit safely in four straight games, going 8-for-17 with five doubles, two RBI, two walks, and four runs scored. - Both Wood (T3rd, 36) and CJ Abrams (T7th, 33) rank among the NL leaders in doubles, making Washington and the Mets the only NL clubs with two players in the top 10. -

CJ Abrams notched his 100th career double Monday night and went 1-for-4 last night. He has a hit in eight of his last nine games, batting .278 (10-for-36) with five doubles, one hit-by-pitch, a walk, and eight runs during that stretch.

Washington fell 5-0 in last night’s series finale in Miami. MacKenzie Gore made his return to the mound after missing 13 games with shoulder inflammation, working 5.0 innings of two-run ball with four strikeouts.

Andrew Alvarez allowed two runs on three hits over 4.2 innings in his second Major League outing on Sept. 6 at Chicago (NL), striking out two and walking three. He left the game tied 1-1 with two outs in the fifth, and the Nationals went on to win 6-3.

MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT: Alvarez made his debut Sept. 1 vs. Miami, tossing 5.0 shutout innings with four strikeouts and two walks while allowing just one hit. He recorded his first career strikeout against Joey Weimer in the third inning.

He became the first pitcher in Nationals history (2005–present) to work 5.0 scoreless innings in his debut. His one hit allowed matched Collin Balester (July 1, 2008 at Florida) for the fewest given up by a Nationals starter in a debut of at least 5.0 innings.

Alvarez was the third pitcher in MLB this season to go 5.0 scoreless innings with one hit or fewer in his debut, joining Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski (June 12) and Kansas City’s Noah Cameron (April 30).

He is the sixth starter in Nationals history to earn a win in his Major League debut, following Mitchell Parker (Apr. 15, 2024 at LAD), Stephen Strasburg (June 8, 2010 vs. PIT), Luis Atilano (Apr. 23, 2010 vs. LAD), Jordan Zimmermann (Apr. 20, 2009 vs. ATL), and Balester (July 1, 2008 at FLA).

The Pittsburgh Pirates enter tonight’s game mired in a six-game losing streak dating back to September 5 against Milwaukee. That skid follows a strong stretch when they won 12 of 16 from August 18 to September 4. Since the All-Star break, Pittsburgh has played to a .500 mark (25-25), and overall, they are 52-57 under manager Don Kelly, who took over on May 9 against Atlanta.

One of the bright spots has been their consistency in generating extra-base hits. The Pirates have recorded at least one in 46 straight games dating back to July 22 against Detroit, the second-longest active streak in Major League Baseball behind Oakland’s 64-game run, and their longest single-season streak since 2019, when they strung together 64 consecutive games.

They have also been no strangers to tight finishes. Pittsburgh has played a Major League-high 55 one-run games this season, their most in any year since 2014, when they appeared in 60.

Bryan Reynolds delivered a strong series the last time the Pirates visited Nationals Park, going 4-for-12 with two doubles, four RBI, and three walks from April 1–4, 2024. He has consistently produced in Washington, hitting safely in 10 of his 12 career games at Nationals Park. Over that span, Reynolds is 18-for-45 (.400) with seven doubles, three homers, 14 RBI, seven walks, seven runs scored, and an impressive 1.227 OPS. Notably, his only career three-homer game came in this ballpark during Pittsburgh’s 8-7 win on June 29, 2022.

Right-hander Bubba Chandler will make his second Major League start this afternoon. He enters today 2-0 with one save, a 2.25 ERA (12.0ip/3er), and a 0.83 WHIP over three relief appearances.

Last Time Out

In his first Major League start on September 7 vs. Milwaukee, Chandler was tagged for nine runs (four in the first inning) on nine hits and three walks with three strikeouts over 2.2 innings, taking the 10-2 loss against Jacob Misiorowski. The nine runs allowed were the most by a Pirates pitcher since Martín Pérez surrendered nine on May 15, 2024, also at Milwaukee.

Three’s Company

Chandler allowed three runs on six hits with three strikeouts across 4.0 innings on September 2 vs. the Dodgers, earning a 9-7 win. Two of the runs came on solo home runs by Shohei Ohtani and Andy Pages.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Chandler became just the second Pirates reliever since at least 1900 to pitch 4.0+ innings in each of his first three appearances, joining Carmen Hill (1915). He’s also the second Pittsburgh reliever in the Modern Era (since 1901) to strike out at least three batters in each of his first three Major League outings, alongside Cecilio Guante (1982).

Additionally, Chandler became one of only three pitchers since the save became an official stat in 1969 to record two wins and a save in his first three career games, joining Minnesota’s Tom Johnson (1974) and Cincinnati’s Hector Carrasco (1994).