Nationals start 3-game series against the Pirates

Audio By Carbonatix

Pittsburgh Pirates (64-83, fifth in the NL Central) vs. Washington Nationals (60-86, fifth in the NL East)

Washington; Friday, 6:45 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Mitch Keller (6-14, 4.16 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 136 strikeouts); Nationals: Brad Lord (5-8, 4.20 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 92 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Nationals -110, Pirates -109; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Washington Nationals host the Pittsburgh Pirates to open a three-game series.

Washington is 29-42 at home and 60-86 overall. The Nationals have a 41-16 record in games when they scored at least five runs.

Pittsburgh has a 64-83 record overall and a 22-50 record in road games. The Pirates have a 23-56 record in games when they have given up at least one home run.

Friday's game is the fifth time these teams meet this season. The Pirates have a 3-1 advantage in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: James Wood has 34 doubles, 27 home runs and 88 RBIs while hitting .260 for the Nationals. Daylen Lile is 17 for 41 with a double, five triples and two home runs over the last 10 games.

Oneil Cruz leads the Pirates with 19 home runs while slugging .380. Nick Gonzales is 11 for 39 with three doubles and four RBIs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Nationals: 7-3, .266 batting average, 4.24 ERA, outscored opponents by eight runs

Pirates: 3-7, .193 batting average, 3.44 ERA, outscored by 13 runs

INJURIES: Nationals: Drew Millas: 60-Day IL (finger), Trevor Williams: 60-Day IL (elbow), Keibert Ruiz: 7-Day IL (concussion), Derek Law: 60-Day IL (forearm), DJ Herz: 60-Day IL (elbow), Josiah Gray: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Pirates: Ronny Simon: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Jack Suwinski: 10-Day IL (groin), Endy Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Enmanuel Valdez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Justin Lawrence: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jared Jones: 60-Day IL (elbow)

___

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