Washington Nationals 6-2 defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates

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Strasburg struck out eight in seven innings and the Nationals won one of his outings for the first time since opening day by beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-4 Saturday. It took a rare team meeting for the Washington Nationals to get what lately has been a rare victory when Stephen Strasburg starts.Nationals Shop

Zimmerman and Adam LaRoche had combined for 36 steals in 2,219 games and none this season when they took off and got good enough jumps that Pirates catcher Russell Martin didn’t even bother throwing.Ryan Zimmerman Jerseys

“We know who has what times [to the plate], what guys are slow and what guys are fast and what guys give a guy like me an actual chance to steal a base,” said Zimmerman, whose steal of third was the first of his career.Tyler Moore hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning off Tony Watson (1-1) to score Ryan Zimmerman, who was on third after an unlikely double steal.Stephen Strasburg Jerseys

The results were mixed most of the afternoon: The Nationals scored more than three runs for the first time in seven games, but had only six hits. Pirates starter Jeff Locke allowed three of those during his five-plus innings, allowing four runs, three earned, with three walks and three strikeouts. Johnson said the Nationals were being more aggressive on the bases in an attempt to jump-start a lethargic offense that had scored three or fewer runs 14 times in its most recent 20 games. For the first time since the franchise moved from Montreal eight years ago, the Nationals entered the season with extremely high expectations.Bryce Harper Jerseys