WASHINGTON — Konnor Griffin had a tiebreaking two-run single in the eighth inning, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Washington Nationals 11-5 on Sunday in a game in which he was also spectacular in the field.Brandon Lowe followed Griffin’s key hit with a three-run homer off Brad Lord (5-2) to extend the lead.Griffin, the 20-year-old who received a nine-year, $140 million contract in April, showed why the Pirates view him as such an important part of their future. He made a diving stop in the third on Curtis Mead’s grounder, but Mead beat the throw for an in-field single.In the fourth, Griffin had to fight the sun on Keibert Ruiz’s popup to shallow left field, making a diving, backhanded grab. The following inning, he made another backhanded, sliding catch in the outfield, although James Wood was able to tag up and beat the throw home, resulting in a rare sacrifice fly to the shortstop.Gregory Soto (5-2) got the win in relief. The Pirates blew a 4-0 lead before going ahead for good with their five-run eighth. Bryan Reynolds also homered for Pittsburgh, and Luis García Jr. and Dylan Crews went deep for Washington.Cade Cavalli, who is appealing a suspension for his role in Tuesday’s bench-clearing dustup at Boston, allowed three earned runs and six hits in 2 1/3 innings. Tyler Callihan opened the scoring for Pittsburgh with a two-run single in the second, and after an error on Cavalli on a …
