Pirates 3, Nationals 1
PITTSBURGH -- Gerrit Cole pitched into the eighth inning to become the first 14-game winner in the major leagues and Neil Walker homered as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Washington Nationals 3-1 on Sunday.
Cole allowed one run and seven hits in 7 2/3 innings with eight strikeouts and no walks against the National League East-leading Nationals as he became the first Pirates pitcher with 14 wins by the end of July since Dock Ellis was 15-4 in 1971.
Cole kept his record perfect against the NL East this season as he is 6-0 with a 1.26 ERA in six starts. Cole also improved to 7-1 with a 1.84 ERA in eight day starts and 9-2 with a 2.15 ERA in his last 12 overall outings.
Nationals right-hander Jose Ross (2-3) had his streak of 29 2/3 innings without allowing a homer to begin his career ended when Walker, the switch-hitting second baseman, connected to lead off the fourth.
Walker's ninth homer of the season extended the Pirates' lead to 3-1.
Mark Melancon pitched a perfect ninth inning for his major-league-leading 32nd in 33 chances.
The Pirates (57-41) won three of four in the series and notched their 11th win in their last 13 home games at PNC Park, where they are 14-2 against NL East teams this season.
Pittsburgh entered the day leading the NL wild-card standings by three games over the San Francisco Giants but trailing the St. Louis Cardinals by seven games in the NL Central.
The Nationals (52-45) were three games up on the New York Mets in the NL East.
Ross gave up three runs and five hits in six innings while striking out seven and walking one. He has 34 strikeouts and three walks in his first five career starts.
Rookie center fielder Michael Taylor accounted for the Nationals' lone run when he homered with two outs in the third inning to open the scoring. It was Taylor's second homer in as many days and eighth of the season.
The Pirates countered with two runs in the bottom of the third to take a 2-1 lead as right fielder Gregory Polanco and center fielder Andrew McCutchen hit RBI singles.
Nationals second baseman Danny Espinosa had two hits.
All four games of the series were sellouts and the total attendance of 151,952 was a record at PNC Park, which opened in 2001.
NOTES: Washington 2B Anthony Rendon was not in the lineup a day after being activated from the disabled list as manager Matt Williams plans to ease him back into action slowly. Rendon missed a month with a left quadriceps strain. ... Nationals OF Matt den Dekker made his third consecutive start in left field as Williams has been forced to shuffle their lineup on a near daily basis because of injuries. ... Both teams are off Monday before opening road series Tuesday night. Washington RHP Jordan Zimmermann (8-5, 3.30 ERA) will face Marlins RHP Jose Fernandez (3-0, 2.77 ERA) at Miami while Pittsburgh RHP Charlie Morton (6-4, 4.59 ERA) will oppose Minnesota Twins RHP Mike Pelfrey (5-7, 3.94 ERA) at Minneapolis.