PITTSBURGH (AP) – Gerrit Cole shut down the best offense in the majors, holding the Washington Nationals to three hits in seven innings to win for the first time in a month as the Pittsburgh Pirates eased to a 6-1 victory Wednesday night.
Cole (2-4) struck out three, walked two and received an overdue dose of support when Josh Bell smacked a three-run home run in the sixth off Jacob Turner (2-2). Andrew McCutchen went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and also stole two bases for Pittsburgh.
Turner cruised through the first five innings in his second start of the year, but ran into trouble in the sixth. A walk and a hit batter brought up Bell, who sent a pitch into the right field stands.
Brian Goodwin had an RBI double for the Nationals. Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman, who began the day with the top two batting averages in the majors, combined to go 0 for 8.