Pirates Drop Heartbreaker, Bullpen Struggles

0:00It's April 17th. You're listening to MLB News today, AI, Powered MLB coverage. The Pittsburgh Pirates dropped an 8-7 Harb Breaker to the Washington Nationals in extra innings at PNC Part, splitting the 4-game series. After taking the first and third matchups, Braxton Ashcraft flashed why the Pirates love him early, tossing four scoreless innings with five strikeouts on just 47 pitches. But the 5th got messy with heirs behind him, sticking him with only two earned runs over five and two-thirds frames. Marcella Zuna finally unleashed the power the team signed him for on that $12 million deal, smashing his first Homer of the year. Blast off a cutter to tie things at 4-all while heating up with hits and four straight games. The bullpen kept coughing up leads from five to four to seven to six, echoing recent meltdowns against the Cubs, though they clawed back late to. Force extras with a wild 9th inning rally. Pirates sit at 11-8 after 20 games, still tied atop the National League Central, but tightening

1:05that relief core stays key if they want to chase playoffs after over a decade off the