Nationals begin 3-game series at home against the Pirates

Pittsburgh Pirates (18-8, first in the NL Central) vs. Washington Nationals (9-15, fifth in the NL East)

Washington; Friday, 7:05 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Rich Hill (2-2, 4.85 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 22 strikeouts); Nationals: Chad Kuhl (0-1, 7.36 ERA, 1.75 WHIP, 14 strikeouts)

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

Washington is 9-15 overall and 2-9 at home. The Nationals have the seventh-ranked team batting average in the NL at .249.

Pittsburgh has an 18-8 record overall and a 9-4 record in road games. Pirates pitchers have a collective 3.60 ERA, which ranks fourth in the NL.

The matchup Friday is the first meeting of the season between the two clubs.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jeimer Candelario leads the Nationals with four home runs while slugging .394. Joey Meneses is 15-for-45 with two doubles, a home run and seven RBI over the past 10 games.

Bryan Reynolds has six doubles, a triple and five home runs for the Pirates. Carlos Santana is 12-for-40 with three doubles and seven RBI over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Nationals: 5-5, .249 batting average, 3.27 ERA, outscored opponents by six runs

Pirates: 9-1, .295 batting average, 2.50 ERA, outscored opponents by 40 runs

INJURIES: Nationals: Ildemaro Vargas: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Corey Dickerson: 10-Day IL (calf), Israel Pineda: 10-Day IL (finger), Stephen Strasburg: 60-Day IL (ribs/shoulder), Tanner Rainey: 60-Day IL (elbow), Victor Arano: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Cade Cavalli: 60-Day IL (elbow), Carter Kieboom: 10-Day IL (finger)

Pirates: Wil Crowe: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Ji-Man Choi: 60-Day IL (achilles), Rob Zastryzny: 15-Day IL (elbow), Chase De Jong: 15-Day IL (knee), Oneil Cruz: 60-Day IL (ankle), JT Brubaker: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jarlin Garcia: 60-Day IL (arm), Max Kranick: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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