Lile, García Jr. Go Deep Twice Each as Nationals Rout Pirates 9-5

Daylen Lile and Luis García Jr. each hit two home runs, combining for 7 RBI as Washington dismantled Pittsburgh 9-5 on July 3. The Nationals had this one locked up before Pittsburgh even blinked, scoring five runs in the third inning alone.

Washington wasted no time. García Jr. opened the scoring in the first with a 395-foot shot to right, then Lile added a 417-foot blast to center in the second to make it 2-0. Pittsburgh answered in the third when Reynolds went 426 feet to center, but that was the last moment the Pirates could claim any momentum. Tena immediately responded with a 434-foot two-run shot to center — the single biggest swing of the night, pushing Washington's win probability from 76% to 86% — and Lile followed with a run-scoring double to right that capped a four-run frame and put the Nationals ahead 5-1. The game was, for all practical purposes, over by the fourth inning.

Mitch Keller absorbed the damage for Pittsburgh, surrendering 8 hits and 5 earned runs across 6 innings while striking out just one batter. That's a rough line on any night, and the story of the game was how thoroughly Washington's lineup exposed him. García Jr. twisted the knife further in the seventh, going deep to right again — 413 feet, two-run shot — and Lile capped the scoring in the eighth with his second home run, a 375-foot drive to right that scored Crews and pushed the lead to 9-1. Foster Griffin did his job on the other side, working 5 innings and allowing just 1 earned run, with Orlando Ribalta adding a clean inning of relief behind him.

Pittsburgh's ninth-inning rally — four consecutive doubles from Lowe, Reynolds, Valdez, and Gonzales that turned a 9-1 deficit into a 9-5 final — looks more like pride than a comeback. Reynolds finished 2-for-5 with a homer and 2 RBI, and Valdez went 3-for-5, but the damage was already done. The Pirates, who appear to be in a rough stretch based on recent results, got nothing from their offense when it mattered. Washington, meanwhile, looks like a team that can put up crooked numbers in bunches — four different players drove in runs, and the Nationals hit the ball with authority all night. On the eve of Independence Day, this was a fireworks show that started early.