WASHINGTON -- Bubba Chandler sparkled in his second Major League start, starting his day with five perfect innings. Bases-loaded singles by Andrew McCutchen and Nick Yorke in the eighth provided the Pirates all the offense they needed as they snapped a seven-game losing streak on Saturday with a 5-1 win over the Nationals at Nationals Park.
Coming off a rough first start when he allowed more runs (nine) than recorded outs (eight), Chandler leaned heavily on his four-seam fastball for redemption, and it worked. He racked up 13 whiffs with the four-seamer, tied for the most for a Pirates pitcher this season (Andrew Heaney on April 23).
Chandler averaged 99.2 mph on his 45 fastballs and eclipsed 100 mph nine times. He struck out seven over six innings of two-hit ball and got 18 whiffs o