{"id":6261,"date":"2026-07-04T08:05:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T08:05:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6261"},"modified":"2026-07-04T08:05:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T08:05:24","slug":"foster-griffin-comes-up-big-again-as-nationals-defeat-pirates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6261","title":{"rendered":"Foster Griffin comes up big again as Nationals defeat Pirates"},"content":{"rendered":"

With two pitchers facing suspensions, a solid start and five homers key a 9-5 win.<\/strong><\/p>

Read more Klopp confirms Germany talks and says he\u2019s \u2018recharged\u2019 since leaving Liverpool<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Foster Griffin relied on his cutter with the heat making it difficult to grip some of his pitches. (John McDonnell\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

As the Washington Nationals began their last home stand before the all-star break Friday, their immediate focus was on beating the Pittsburgh Pirates. They sweated out a 9-5 win to kick off the three-game series at Nationals Park, with two home runs apiece from Luis Garc\u00eda Jr. and Daylen Lile, and one from Jos\u00e9 Tena.<\/p>\n

But in the back of their minds, the Nationals also have to prepare for a potential hole in their rotation as early as Sunday \u2014 making what Foster Griffin and the bullpen did Friday even more important. Griffin allowed one run in five innings, and Orlando Ribalta, Justin Lawrence and Clayton Beeter each had scoreless relief appearances.<\/p>\n

MLB suspended Cade Cavalli and Miles Mikolas for seven and five games, respectively, on Thursday for their actions in Tuesday\u2019s benches-clearing brawl against the Boston Red Sox. Both are appealing, and their suspensions will begin as soon as that process is finished.<\/p>\n

They do not know when MLB will conclude that process, and it\u2019s possible it comes before their next starts. Mikolas is penciled in for Sunday, with Cavalli lined up for Monday. If they can\u2019t go, it\u2019ll put a strain on a pitching staff that is already barely hanging on and devoid of quality reinforcements.<\/p>\n

A solid outing by Griffin saved Washington from running through too many relievers before the hard hits come. The left-hander gave up four hits and a walk, with the only run coming off a solo shot from Bryan Reynolds, a rare middle-middle miss.<\/p>\n

Griffin had gone six-plus innings with 100-plus pitches in four straight starts. He might have gone further against Pittsburgh, but the 100-plus-degree temperatures forced him to end his day at 83 pitches.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother really good outing for Foster,\u201d Manager Blake Butera said. \u201cHe did a really good job pitching in this heat, sweating his butt off, I know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Griffin said his cutter felt the best of his seven pitches. He knew coming into the game that it would play well against the Pirates\u2019 lineup, plus it wasn\u2019t slipping out of his hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a lot of sweat, trying to stay hydrated, trying to keep my hands dry to grip the ball,\u201d Griffin said. \u201cAll the elements, the other team has to do the same thing, so have to grind through.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
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Luis Garc\u00eda Jr., right, had two of the Nationals\u2019 five homers on a humid night. (Rafael Suanes\/Imagn Images\/Reuters Connect)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Ribalta took over for the sixth inning, giving up a weak single to Esmerlyn Valdez but nothing else. Lawrence got two quick outs to open the seventh inning, then loaded the bases on a ground-rule double and two walks. Beeter struck out Reynolds to end the threat.<\/p>

Read more Ohtani leaves game against Padres with biceps issue and is unlikely to pitch in All-Star Game<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe trust the heck out of Clayton Beeter,\u201d Butera said. \u201cWe are going to give him the ball well in big spots. I thought Lawrence threw the ball well early in the outing. I know he lost command a little bit at the end there, but I thought his stuff was really good. He\u2019ll continue to get opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zak Kent survived the eighth inning. Valdez hit a leadoff single, then advanced to third when Jake Mangum tapped a soft grounder to CJ Abrams, who threw to second instead of first. It was Abrams\u2019s second error of the game.<\/p>\n

Kent immediately got the third out, but things didn\u2019t go as smoothly in the ninth. With the Nationals up 9-1, Kent allowed four runs, though it didn\u2019t end up impacting the outcome. And he did, at the very least, manage to end it without the Nationals needing to use another reliever.<\/p>\n

The Nationals are still working through their pitching plans for Sunday and Monday, should the suspensions be upheld and the appeal process finished. Carson Palmquist and Brad Lord both have starting experience and can provide length, and they will make additional roster moves to fill the two vacant spots.<\/p>\n

But one thing is for sure: The offense knows how to produce, as it showed again Friday on a night when the humidity was sending the ball flying.<\/p>\n

Garc\u00eda hit home runs of 395 and 413 feet, putting him at a career-high-tying 18 on the season and continuing his tear. He is 12 for 23 with three doubles, five homers and 13 RBI in his past six games.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust the work I put in every day with our hitting coaches,\u201d Garc\u00eda said through an interpreter. \u201cWe found something special about my swing that we have right now and just trying to put the ball up in the air, that\u2019s probably the success that we\u2019ve seen the last couple of months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lile, who hadn\u2019t gone deep since June 5, added a double to his two-homer night. He hit his first one in the second inning, a liner to dead center, then added another in the eighth to right field.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first couple of months have been a lot of ups and downs just in my eyes, probably not in other people\u2019s eyes,\u201d Lile said. \u201cIt was nice to come through for the team at pretty key moments of the game.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Boston\u2019s Aroldis Chapman sets MLB record for strikeouts as a reliever with his 1,364th K<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With two pitchers facing suspensions, a solid start and five homers key a 9-5 win.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nFoster Griffin comes up big again as Nationals defeat Pirates - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6261\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Foster Griffin comes up big again as Nationals defeat Pirates - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With two pitchers facing suspensions, a solid start and five homers key a 9-5 win.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6261\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-04T08:05:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/d24505c0dc3f311566e8a3be4e766b06-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6261#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6261\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Foster Griffin comes up big again as Nationals defeat Pirates\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-04T08:05:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6261\"},\"wordCount\":951,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6261#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/7a994e89a797eabfce365bef738d0633-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6261#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6261\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6261\",\"name\":\"Foster Griffin comes up big again as Nationals defeat Pirates - 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