Pittsburgh Pirates at Washington Nationals

WASHINGTON – The biggest question around Nationals Park this holiday weekend: What’s hotter? The Nationals’ offense or the actual temperature? With a game-time temperature of 100 degrees – the third hottest in Nationals Park history – the Nats’ offense delivered early and often Friday night in a series-opening 9-5 win over the Pirates. The Nationals homered in each of the first three innings as Luis García Jr., Daylen Lile and José Tena all went deep off Pirates righty Mitch Keller. García and Lile each homered again off Pirates reliever Isaac Mattson, giving Washington an MLB-best 85 home runs since May 6. “That’s what makes this team and this lineup really special,” García said through team interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. “One night it can be two guys, the next night it can be another two, and then it can be all nine of us. That’s really special.” Few players around the bigs are hotter than García, who has now homered five times in his past six games and nine in his past 13. The reigning National League Player of the Week has matched his career high with 18 homers on the year and is now up to a team-high 62 RBIs. García’s 41 RBIs since May 24 are tops in the Majors. “With Luis’ bat-to-ball skill, it’s hard to find a spot to get him out,” said manager Blake Butera. “He’s got really good hand-eye coordination, he’s able to cover every pitch, especially when he’s seeing the ball as well as he is right now.” Lile hit a solo homer in the second, while Tena blasted a Statcast-projected 434-foot two-run shot in the third. Lile’s RBI double in the third gave the Nationals a four-run cushion and some nice breathing room for starting pitcher Foster Griffin. Griffin, who threw at least 100 pitches in each of his previous four starts, had to grind through the sweltering heat in this one. The Pirates had two runners on base in each of the first two innings, though GriffIn escaped both jams. Griffin then surrendered a solo homer to Bryan Reynolds in the third before retiring seven of the final eight batters he faced. “I was trying to get quick outs, but I couldn’t do that early,” Griffin said. “They battled me through some counts, a lot of foul balls. I didn’t really have my swing-and-miss stuff tonight, but nonetheless I was able to grind through five.” The lefty ultimately tossed five innings of one-run ball, allowing four hits with two strikeouts and one walk. Along the way, Griffin crossed two benchmarks for the first time as a big leaguer with 100 strikeouts and more