CJ Abrams, Nationals strive to stay hot in clash vs. Pirates

CJ Abrams continues to be at the heart of most of the positives thus far for the Washington Nationals.

He remains one of the hottest hitters in the majors for the Nationals, who will visit the Pittsburgh Pirates in the third contest of a four-game series on Wednesday night.

Abrams is hitting .356 with a 1.121 OPS, six home runs and 19 RBIs in 16 games this season. He is on pace for career highs in each of those categories.

Abrams will try to provide run support again when the Nationals send right-hander Jake Irvin (1-1, 7.07 ERA) to the mound on Wednesday.

Abrams collected three hits and two RBIs, including a home run, in Washington's 5-4 win over Pittsburgh on Tuesday night. He would have scored an additional run had he not been thrown out at the plate on a great play from left field by Jake Mangum in the eighth inning.

The Nationals have won four of their past five games.

"There are a lot of positives with CJ's game right now," manager Blake Butera said. "The leadership stands out, the way he rallies the guys around him from all aspects ... and he's not afraid to go out there and make a play."

Pittsburgh second baseman Brandon Lowe has been one of the top hitters in baseball as well this season.

Lowe became the first Pirate to record five RBIs in consecutive games since the RBI became an official statistic in 1920. He accomplished the feat Sunday against the Chicago Cubs and Monday against the Nationals.

Lowe homered in the second inning on Tuesday, but Pirates manager Don Kelly took some heat from fans later that night after his decision to pinch hit Nick Yorke for Lowe in the seventh with the bases loaded and one out and Pittsburgh trailing 5-4. Yorke worked the count to 3-1 against reliever Cionel Perez before grounding into an inning-ending double play.

"I thought it was the right move," Lowe said. "if you take the personal out of it and look at it with a baseball mind, it was bases loaded, one out, lefty on the mound and lefty in the pen. (Yorke) sees lefties really well and doesn't strike out against them. ... If the ball was (hit) three feet one way or another, we're having a completely different discussion about this."

Irvin, who is 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in two career starts against the Pirates, produced mixed results in his last outing Friday at Milwaukee. He pitched five innings and gave up three runs on just two hits but walked five batters and struck out five as the Nationals won 7-3.

The Pirates had not named a starter for Wednesday's game, although right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski (0-0, 2.51 ERA) would be in line to pitch in the contest.

If Mlodzinski gets the nod, he'll make his first career start against the Nationals. He has faced them as a reliever, going 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA in five career appearances.

Mlodzinski would be looking to build off his best start of the season last Friday against the Cubs. He pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings despite allowing six hits and three walks while striking out two in a no-decision in Pittsburgh's 2-0 victory.

--Field Level Media