The Pittsburgh Pirates will look to keep manufacturing runs as they go for a series win on the road against the Washington Nationals on Sunday.

In Saturday’s 7-1 win, the Pirates did all their damage without an extra-base hit. Pittsburgh had 11 singles — four of which didn’t leave the infield — and stole four bases.

The ability to generate offense by stringing together hits, taking extra bases and swiping bags is a trait Pirates manager Don Kelly said has become a strength.

“We have a lot of resilience,” Kelly said. “We’ve talked about how we’ve shown the ability to bounce back.”

The Pirates shook up their bullpen prior to Saturday’s game. Evan Sisk (left elbow inflammation) was placed on the 15-day injured list, and Hunter Stratton was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis. The right-handed reliever developed a two-seam fastball while in the minors.

“(It’s) something that goes arm-side,” Stratton said. “I think it’s really going to help me moving forward.”

The Pirates selected Stratton in the 16th round of the 2017 MLB Draft and he appeared in 47 games between 2023 and 2025. He was reacquired in a trade with the Braves on June 18 and is looking forward to helping stabilize the Pirates’ bullpen.

“Everybody has been great,” Stratton said. “They’ve welcomed me. I’m just happy to be back. I can go out there, have quick innings and fill up the zone. Just help in any way I can.”

Bubba Chandler (3-8, 4.62 ERA) is scheduled to start for Pittsburgh. The right-hander’s last outing was in an 8-0 road loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday. Chandler allowed five earned runs — his most since April 23 — on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings.

He’s made one career start against the Nationals and is 0-0 with a 1.50 ERA. He has walked none and struck out seven. Chandler has lasted at least five innings in his last eight starts.

The Nationals are set to give the ball to right-hander Cade Cavalli (5-4, 3.69), who tossed a gem in his last outing. Cavalli held the Boston Red Sox to one run on one hit with no walks and 13 strikeouts in an 8-1 win on Tuesday.

Cavalli is making the start as he appeals a seven-game suspension issued after a bench-clearing incident against the Red Sox which resulted from him taunting Willson Contreras after striking him out.

Cavalli has two career starts against the Pirates and is 0-1 with a 9.95 ERA. His last appearance against Pittsburgh was on April 13 where he was tagged with the loss, lasting 1 1/3 innings and giving up four runs on three hits with three walks and two strikeouts.

After James Wood crushed a first-pitch fastball to deep right field in the first inning on Saturday, the Nationals’ bats went quiet. Wood’s 23rd homer accounted for the lone extra-base hit of the six hits Washington managed.

Nationals manager Blake Butera said he wants the club’s leadoff hitter to get as many at-bats as possible.

“Woody is a really good hitter,” Butera said. “When we get him up to the plate as many times as possible, we like our chances.”

After piling up 12 hits in the 9-5 series-opening win, Wood said the Washington hitters have to wisely choose the pitches they want to drive.

“We need to take the same approach,” Wood said. “Be disciplined and get a good pitch to hit.”

–Field Level Media

It has been quite a 12-month stretch for Colson Montgomery.

The Chicago White Sox shortstop made his major league debut on July 4, 2025, and has impressed ever since. He put up 21 home runs in 71 games as a rookie, and exactly one year after his first appearance, he surpassed that total with his 22nd mash of the season — delivering the go-ahead run in the eighth inning of Chicago’s 3-1 win against the host Cleveland Guardians on Saturday.

His 43 homers in 155 games are tied for fourth most in the majors since his debut, trailing only Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (60 in 160 games), Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero (50 in 159) and Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz (44 in 156), and tied with Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani (43 in 153).

Montgomery and his teammates will look to keep it going as they go for the split in the finale of a four-game set against the Guardians on Sunday.

“I’ve just narrowed down the things I need to do on a day-to-day basis, what my body needs to get ready for the game,” Montgomery said. “Coming up here, last year as a new guy, I felt like I needed to do everything, be everywhere.”

Montgomery’s home run total leads the White Sox, is fifth in the American League and is tied for eighth in the majors.

“I see the work he puts in,” said White Sox pitcher Sean Burke, his good friend and housemate. “We work out together every single day. I see how he is as a person hanging out, just chilling at the house in the offseason. … I’m not surprised at any of this. He’s that special of a player.”

Right-hander Burke was stellar in his start Saturday, notching a career-high 11 strikeouts without a walk in six innings while holding Cleveland to one run on seven hits as the White Sox pulled even with their division rivals atop the AL Central.

Chris Murphy (2-0, 3.79 ERA) will get the nod for Chicago on Sunday. It’ll be the second career start against the Guardians for the left-hander, who is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in five career appearances, allowing two hits and striking out 10 in eight innings.

The Guardians will counter with Tanner Bibee (2-9, 3.69). The righty enjoyed a stellar June, going 2-2 with a 1.89 ERA in five starts, with opponents batting a mere .150 against him.

It’s a turnaround from the month prior, when he went 0-3 with a 5.08 ERA and hitters connecting at a .248 clip.

“He’s really learning to command (his sinker) and use it as a weapon,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said.

Bibee, who is 4-0 with a 3.41 ERA in six career starts against the White Sox, had one of his worst starts of the season against the Washington Nationals on May 25. He gave up seven runs on eight hits — five of which were home runs — in just three innings.

In his six starts since that outing? A 2.29 ERA in 39 1/3 innings.

“It’s been pretty exciting to see a guy who’s had a lot of success in his big league career so far kind of make an adjustment and see the fruit of it,” said two-time Gold Glove catcher Patrick Bailey, who has been behind the plate for eight of Bibee’s 10 starts since the former was acquired on May 9. “I think the ceiling is a lot higher than what we’ve seen so far.”

–Field Level Media

The Baltimore Orioles and Cincinnati Reds have similar records as they go into Sunday afternoon’s series finale in Cincinnati.

They’re trying to set themselves up for a good final week prior to the All-Star break.

It hasn’t been easy for Reds manager Terry Francona’s team, which has dropped six of its last seven games.

Meanwhile, the Orioles try to stretch their winning streak to four games after winning the first two games of the series by three-run margins. Saturday night’s 8-5 decision came despite Cincinnati building an 11-10 edge in hits.

Both teams had something positive to digest Saturday when members of their clubs were selected for the All-Star Game.

Baltimore catcher Adley Rutschman was named an All-Star for the American League despite landing on the injured list twice this season.

“It’s been a goal of mine to go to the All-Star Game and to be able to get back there, so I feel very blessed,” said Rutschman, who also was selected in 2023 and 2024.

Rookie catcher Samuel Basallo, who also fills the designated hitter slot for some games, has homered in each of the past two games for the Orioles.

Cincinnati’s All-Stars are infielder Sal Stewart and pitcher Chase Burns on the National League side.

“I’m obviously shocked because I just didn’t expect this,” said Stewart, a rookie who’s batting .254 with a team-high 17 home runs.

The Orioles will send right-hander Kyle Bradish (5-8, 3.77 ERA) to the mound Sunday in an effort to complete a series sweep. He had a personal two-game winning streak end when he gave up four runs (three earned) in last Sunday’s 6-4 home loss to the Washington Nationals. He has won his last two road outings.

With 96 strikeouts, Bradish is in range to reach the 100-strikeout mark for the first time since his career-high mark of 168 in 2023.

Bradish has faced the Reds only once in his career, allowing two runs in five innings in a no-decision as a rookie in 2022.

Baltimore’s pitchers have done the job so far in this series. Other than Cincinnati’s three-run second inning Saturday, the Reds have managed just single runs in two of the other 17 innings.

“We have really good pitching,” Orioles first-year manager Craig Albernaz said. “I’m biased, obviously.”

Francona said that the Reds’ starting rotation has been altered with Rhett Lowder taking a spot in the bullpen. The right-hander came through with three shutout innings in Saturday night’s game. So there’s still more to sort out.

“When we get to next Sunday, we’ll see where we’re at and map it out from there,” Francona said. “We’re not trying to make Lowder a bullpen guy. We’re trying to figure out ways to protect our staff, win games and get through this next week.”

Cincinnati has lined up left-hander Nick Lodolo (2-2, 5.05) as its starting pitcher for the series finale. He’s unscored upon in his last two starts covering a total of nine innings.

The Reds went 0-5 in Lodolo’s five June starts, though he was charged with a loss in only one of those. In two career starts against the Orioles, he’s 0-1 with a 4.09 ERA covering 11 innings.

–Field Level Media