Pittsburgh 5, Washington 3

Pirates 5, Nationals 3: Andrew McCutchen hit a pair of home runs and James McDonald struck out 11 Washington hitters as Pittsburgh held on to earn a two-game split on the road.

McCutchen hit the first of his solo shots with two out in the first inning and added another leading off the sixth. Both homers came off Washington starter Jordan Zimmermann (2-4), who also allowed a two-run blast by Rod Barajas in the fourth inning.

McDonald (3-2) was untouchable early for the Pirates - holding the Nationals without a hit for the first five innings and striking out six consecutive batters at one point - but he ran out of steam in the sixth. Washington opened the inning with back-to-back doubles and got on the board with a two-out, two run single by Ryan Zimmerman.

Adam LaRoche followed with an RBI triple to chase McDonald and make it a 4-3 game.

The Pirates got one of the runs back in the seventh inning on an RBI fielder’s choice by Neil Walker.

Four different Pittsburgh relievers held the Nationals to two hits over the final 3 1/3 innings, with Joel Hanrahan picking up the save despite allowing Washington to bring the winning run to the plate with one out in the ninth.

Zimmermann gave up four runs on seven hits in six innings, striking out six and walking one.

GAME NOTEBOOK: McCutchen’s two-homer game was the fifth of his career and the first by a Pittsburgh batter this season. ... McDonald has 36 strikeouts over his last four starts. ... Washington had two runners on with nobody out in the seventh against Juan Cruz but failed to score.

• Washington will play their next game at home against Baltimore. The Nationals have a W/L % of .652 after a win and .533 after a loss.
• Pittsburgh will play their next game on the road against Detroit. The Pirates have a W/L % of .294 after a win and .619 after a loss.