Jared Jones strikes out 9, Pirates get trio of solo home runs to beat Nationals for series split

Jared Jones got off to an inauspicious start when CJ Abrams hit his third pitch of the game out of the park, only for the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander to turn in one of the best performances of his rookie season.

Jones got frustrated after giving up two runs in the first two innings, then told himself to forget it: What’s the worst that could happen?

For the Nationals, it was facing Jones at his best. He retired the final 16 batters he faced, finishing with nine strikeouts without a walk over seven innings with a three-pitch mix that proved devastating.

The Pirates helped by pounding Patrick Corbin for 10 hits, including solo home runs by Joey Bart, Andrew McCutchen and Michael A. Taylor, for a 7-3 win over the Washington Nationals on Sunday afternoon before 12,369 at PNC Park to salvage a four-game series split.

“Kind of exploded there. It’s fun to see,” Jones said. “I knew I just had to lock it down, and we’d win the game.”

Jones (6-7) notched his 11th quality start in 19 outings, falling one strikeout shy of his season high after recording 10 strikeouts twice — in his MLB debut March 30 at Miami and against Colorado on May 4.

But Jones got off to a rocky start when he left an 0-2 slider over the middle of the plate for Nationals leadoff batter Abrams, who sent it 416 feet to center for his 19th home run and a 1-0 lead.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa answered with a leadoff single, and Bart blasted Patrick Corbin’s 1-2 cutter 369 feet to left for his 13th homer to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead. With two outs, Nick Gonzales singled and Bryan De La Cruz doubled to put a pair of runners in scoring position.

Billy Cook, who started at first base for the Pirates in his major-league debut, followed with his first major-league hit by drilling a book-rule double down the left-field line to score Gonzales and De La Cruz and boost the Pirates to a 4-1 lead.

Keibert Ruiz led off the second with a double off the Clemente Wall, advanced to third on Jose Tena’s single to left and scored on a single to right by Jacob Young to cut it to 4-2.

“I made some pretty bad pitch selections early. That was just it,” Jones said. “Right after the first two innings, just locked in, settled down and threw the ball the way I know how to throw it.”

Then Jones shut the Nationals down. With runners on the corners, he got Abrams to fly out to center to end the second. Jones didn’t allow another batter to reach base.

“The thing that was most impressive is he gave up some runs early and I don’t think he allowed another baserunner the entire time, so I think he was in control,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “We’ve seen him give up runs and then walk a guy, and he didn’t. He got himself out of jams, so it was very impressive.”

McCutchen crushed Corbin’s 2-2 slider to start the bottom of the third, depositing it 397 feet to the rotunda in left field for his 19th home run and a 5-2 Pirates lead. Gonzales followed with a single, advanced to third on a single by De La Cruz and a fielder’s choice by Taylor but was picked off at the plate for the final out.

Alika Williams led off the fourth with a double to center, reached third on a groundout by Kiner-Falefa and scored on a fielder’s choice by Bryan Reynolds by beating the throw home from Nationals second baseman Luis Garcia Jr. for a 6-2 lead.

Jones, meantime, found his groove thanks to his increased use of his third pitch offering. He threw his curveball as often as his slider (27 each) and generated six whiffs and eight called strikes.

“I think the scouting report is fastball-slider, and if it’s anything else, just spit. It’s probably not going to be a strike,” Jones said. “Getting that one down feels pretty good.”

Shelton said Jones’ curve made his four-seam fastball, which he threw 38 times and got 24 swings on, even more effective as he got ahead in counts early to put the Nationals away with his breaking balls.

“When he has the third (pitch) going, then the fastball is so much more dynamic,” Shelton said, “because when you’re throwing 98 to 100 but, all of a sudden, you have to respect spin in zone, that really stands out.”

Jones required only 13 pitches to strike out the side in the sixth, then got Dylan Crews looking at a slider inside for a called third strike for the final out in the seventh.

“I blacked out after the fourth, to be honest,” Jones said. “I couldn’t tell how I felt.”

Taylor tagged Corbin for another leadoff shot in the sixth, sending a 2-2 slider 419 feet to the North Side Notch for his fifth home run of the season and the 100th of his career to extend the Pirates’ lead to 7-2.

Jalen Beeks relieved Jones and pitched a clean eighth before Carmen Mlodzinski gave up a run in the ninth, when James Wood hit a leadoff single and scored on Andres Chaparro’s double to center. But Mlodzinski retired the next three batters to put the finishing touches on Jones’ gem.

“I think it’s a big step for him just continuing to mature, being able to finish a major-league season,” Shelton said of Jones, who spent two months on the injured list before returning Aug. 27. “It was off to a good start, had the lat injury, but to be able to finish and show us different signs, not just signs of executing pitches, is really important.”