PITTSBURGH – Brandon Wood's two-run double in his first game for Pittsburgh was part of a four-run fourth inning and the Pirates defeated the Washington Nationals 4-2 in front of a sparse crowd at soggy PNC Park on Monday.
Paul Maholm retired the final 13 batters he faced in seven strong innings as Pittsburgh made up the original series opener that was postponed by rain on Friday.
Wood, picked up on waivers from the Los Angeles Angels on Friday, gave the Pirates their first lead with a two-run double.
Announced paid attendance was 12,457, but only about 2,600 made it through the turnstiles on what wasn't originally a scheduled game night. Also contributing to the poor showing was rain that caused a 21-minute delay and a Penguins playoff game at the same time.
Maholm (1-3) allowed four hits and two walks with eight strikeouts in winning for the first time this season. After Adam LaRoche's two-run single in the first inning, Maholm faced only two over the minimum the rest of the way.
Maholm beat the Nationals for the first time in eight career starts and tied Zach Duke as PNC Park's all-time wins leader with 31.
Evan Meek worked a perfect eighth, and Joel Hanrahan struck out pinch-hitter Rick Ankiel looking with runners on first and third and two outs in the ninth to finish his sixth save.
Making his 100th career start, Washington's John Lannan (2-2) allowed only one hit through before a one-out walk to Jose Tabata. With two outs and Tabata at second, Neil Walker singled to right.
On Sunday, Jayson Werth threw Andrew McCutchen out at the plate to end the game, but his throw home this time was up the third base line and got past catcher Wilson Ramos.
Steve Pearce followed with a walk, setting up Wood's second hard-hit ball to right-center of the game. The first was caught on the run by Werth in the second inning, but this one one-hopped the wall.
Wood, a former top prospect who hit .168 in 173 games with the Angels over five seasons, had no RBIs in 15 at-bats this season.
Lannan was charged with four runs on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts in 5 2-3 innings. He had a five-game road winning streak snapped. The Nationals had won Lannan's past six road outings since last season.
Notes: Washington had two errors to make it eight in the series after having only 12 over the first 18 games. ... SS Brian Bixler made his Nationals debut, going 0 for 3. ... Walker had two hits to give him five in his past two games. ... LaRoche has reached base in 17 of 19 games this season.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.