Ian Snell hopes a return home Friday night can help him rebound from his worst outing of the season as he takes the mound for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the opener of a three-game set against the struggling Washington Nationals.
Snell (6-5, 2.92 ERA) is 5-2 with a 2.22 ERA in seven outings at PNC Park, winning his last four starts there. He's 0-3 with a 4.85 ERA in his last four road games.
The right-hander threw his first career complete game in his last start at Pittsburgh (33-45), allowing one unearned run and striking out seven in an 8-1 win over Texas on June 13.
Snell's next outing came on the road Saturday and was not nearly as good, getting tagged for five runs -- all in the second inning -- and 10 hits in six innings of a 10-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. It was his first appearance after burning his right index finger on a stove.
"Obviously, it's not the performance Ian Snell wanted," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said. "But for him to maintain his composure in the manner in which he did after that tough second inning and basically save our bullpen, you've got to give him credit for that."
Snell has no decisions in four career appearances against the Nationals but pitched seven strong innings in his only start against them this season, allowing three hits and striking out seven in a 3-2 win on June 7.
Pittsburgh is entering a 10-game homestand with a 15-21 record at PNC Park, tied for the second-fewest home wins in the majors.
The Pirates closed a nine-game road trip on Thursday with a 9-7 loss to Florida. They managed only three victories on the trip while batting .233.
Jason Bay hit .189 (7-for-37) during the trip, part of a 12-for-83 slump (.145) in his last 22 games as his batting average has plummeted from .312 to .265.
The All-Star left fielder will try to snap out of that funk against the Nationals (32-46), against whom he is hitting .323 in eight games at PNC.
The Pirates have won two of three games in both of their series with Washington this season.
The Nationals visit Pittsburgh after suffering a three-game sweep at Atlanta, capped by a 13-0 defeat on Wednesday. Washington has lost nine of 12, getting outscored by 43 runs in that span.
"We've been on the bottom of every offensive category from the start of the season," Nationals manager Manny Acta said. "Why should I be complaining now? We have to keep on looking for ways to make the club better."
Washington, the last-place club in the NL East, has a .249 team batting average to rank among the lowest in the majors.
That doesn't bode well for rookie Matt Chico (3-5, 5.08), seeking his first win since beating Atlanta 4-3 on May 17.
The 24-year-old left-hander is 0-1 with a 4.66 ERA in seven starts since that victory, getting fewer than four runs of support in six of them.
Chico, though, is trying to build on one of the best starts of his career. He allowed one run and four hits before exiting with a one-run lead after six innings Saturday, but Chad Cordero blew the save opportunity by surrendering three runs in the ninth in a 4-3 defeat to Cleveland.
Chico had a similar situation in his only start against Pittsburgh on June 7. He gave up two runs and four hits with five strikeouts in seven innings only to have Cordero allow the go-ahead run in the ninth of a 3-2 loss.