Game 91: Pirates @ Nationals

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"Pirates-Nationals preview
Pittsburgh
Pirates
46-44
7:05 PM ET
Line: WSH -116
Washington
Nationals
55-36
PIT: Cole (5-4 , 2.77 ERA) WSH: Roark (8-5 , 3.01 ERA)
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1479 tickets available
12:22 AM ET
STATS LLC
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WASHINGTON -- If the Pittsburgh Pirates are going to make a run to the postseason, they will need a strong second-half performance from Gerrit Cole.
The right-hander is expected to come off the disabled list and start for the Pirates Saturday night against the Washington Nationals.
"I'm excited to be able to play again and hopefully put ourselves in a position to win a ballgame," Cole said on the eve of his return.
"I'm just excited to be back, compete, and just play."
Cole has been on the disabled list for more than a month with a strained right triceps. He is 5-4 with a 2.77 ERA this year, but has gone seven innings only twice in 12 starts.
The 25-year-old was a first-round pick by the Pirates in the 2011 draft out of UCLA, where he pitched for three years. He lives in Santa Ana, Calif., the hometown of Washington shortstop Danny Espinosa.
Cole will make his first big league start since June 10 after he threw eight scoreless innings in two rehab starts with Triple-A Indianapolis, with the most recent coming last Sunday.
He is 2-0 with a 1.74 ERA in three career starts against Washington.
Ben Revere has hit Cole at an impressive clip throughout his career, going 7-for-12 (.582) with an RBI.
Wilson Ramos (2-for-8) and Michael Taylor (1-for-4) are the only Nationals players who have taken Cole deep, and Daniel Murphy is 2-for-9 with two RBI.
Murphy is dealing with left hamstring tightness and was a late scratch from the Nationals' lineup Friday. He's listed as day-to-day.
Cole will be opposed by Nationals right-hander Tanner Roark. It will be the first career start for Roark against the Pirates, whom he has faced twice out of the bullpen.
No active Pirates player has more than one career hit against Roark, but Andrew McCutchen (1-for-2) and Staling Marte (1-for-5) have each slugged two-run home runs off of him.
John Jaso (1-for-3) also has a round-tripper against Roark.
Roark is 8-5 with a 3.01 ERA this season. Max Scherzer will start Sunday after Stephen Strasburg started the opener on Friday and allowed one run over eight innings in a 5-1 win.
Scherzer threw one inning in the All-Star game on Tuesday.
What went into the thinking of the Nationals for their weekend rotation?
"Strasburg was the strongest. Scherzer was the least rested, so we decided to give him some extra days. We had to keep Tanner kind of rested," Washington manager Dusty Baker said.
Baker is a former Cincinnati Reds manager who knows the Pirates well.
"I was in a division with the Pirates for a long time," Baker said. "They have a good power and speed combination. This is the makings of a very good series."
Pittsburgh and Baltimore will square off four more times this season, with a three-game series coming late in the season on Sept. 23-25.
The Nationals emerged with a 4-3 edge in last season's series with the Pirates, earning a three-game sweep in their first meeting but dropping three of four last July in Pittsburgh."