"I had a terrible spring," Nady said. "It usually takes a little while to get a rhythm going because I have a leg kick and a lot of movement and it usually takes me a few weeks to find my timing and an approach that I feel comfortable with."

Nady has been in quite a comfortable groove since opening night when he hit two home runs and had four hits in the Pirates' win at Atlanta. He hasn't stopped hitting since.

Nady continued to be tough on Washington as he went 1-for-3 with two walks in an 11-4 win Friday night. In his last 16 games against the Nationals, he is hitting .327 (16-for-52) with seven doubles, one home run, seven RBIs and eight runs.

Though he has been among the National League leaders in RBIs throughout the early part of the season, he insists he pays no attention to the league leaders.

"I try to stay away from all the stats," Nady said. "I try not to worry about that. I just try to take everything day-by-day, have a good approach and go from there."

PIRATES 11, NATIONALS 4: Third baseman Jose Bautista, who has been struggling all season, finally had a breakout game as he had two home runs and four RBIs to lead the Pirates to their third win in the last five games. Bautista is still hitting just .215 with three home runs and 12 RBIs in 27 games this season.

Catcher Ryan Doumit added three hits as the Pirates had a total of 12. Left-hander Damaso Marte (2-0) pitched two perfect relief innings for the win as the Pirates' bullpen threw a total of five shutout innings and allowed only one hit to help snap the Nationals' four-game winning streak.