Abbott (5-7) took the loss Saturday against the Pirates, allowing three runs on three hits and five walks in five innings. He struck out one.
Lack of control has been an issue for Abbott throughout the year, and the hurler matched a season worst in walks Saturday while tying a season low in punchouts. The southpaw has an alarming 25:19 K:BB over his last six starts (32 innings), but he's still managed to work at least five frames in 16 of his last 17 outings. Abbott is set to take a 3.91 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and 95:59 K:BB across 122 innings into a difficult road matchup against the Nationals.