Washington Nationals starter John Lannan flirted with disaster early, but emerged relatively unscathed, thanks in part to poor Pittsburgh Pirates baserunning. In situations like this, it is best to let the hometown paper describe it — here are some choice quotes:

There is aggressiveness on the basepaths, and there is outright foolishness.

Unfortunately for the Pirates, they’ve been the punchline.

This foolishness needs to stop, like, um, last month.

Unfortunately, to get to those quotes, you have to wade through some stuff about a couple of Pittsburgh hockey players. I do it, so you don’t have to.

Video helps too: Roger Bernadina makes a strong throw to third base to nab Brandon Wood in the fourth inning | The Nationals get Chris Snyder caught in a rundown between third base and the plate, eventually tagging him out

Lannan went 6 1/3, giving up 2 runs, but getting the no decision.

Danny Espinosa hit the game winning 2 run homer (nationals.com video) in the 7th inning. Jerry Hairston, Jr. hit one too. Wilson Ramos had an RBI single from the He’s been slumping.

HEADLINES

Nationals vs. Pirates: Danny Espinosa’s homer lifts Washington to 4-2 win – The Post
Espinosa’s HR lifts Nationals over Pirates – CSN Washington
Behind John Lannan, Nationals hand Pirates 4-2 defeat – The Wash. Times

$2 TICKETS FOR TODAY’S GAME STILL AVAILABLE

The Nats are selling $2 for today’s game. I bought a pair, but I was planning on taking the day off and going anyway. If the game gets rained out, I figure I’ll get to use them for another game down the road. This got me thinking, it might be worth buying another pair and risking $4 to use towards another future game.