PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Washington Nationals were prepared for Erik Bedard.

Brad Lincoln and four other Pirates relievers? Not so much.

Bedard left early with back spasms and the Nationals struggled against Pittsburgh’s bullpen in a 4-2 loss on Wednesday night.

Washington went just 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position and left the bases loaded in the eighth and runners on second and third in the ninth.

“We just didn’t come through in the clutch,” Washington shortstop Ian Desmond said. “That one big hit we’ve been waiting for, we didn’t get it today.”

The Nationals, one of baseball’s biggest surprises during the first month of the season, have dropped three straight.

“My guys are trying, pumped up to keep winning ballgames,” Washington manager Davey Johnson said. “We’re just not getting quality at-bats, that’s all.”

Andrew McCutchen went 4 for 4 for the Pirates, including his second home run in as many nights. Lincoln (2-0) earned the victory with three shutout innings after replacing Bedard, who was lifted three pitches into the second inning due to back spasms.

Joel Hanrahan survived a shaky ninth to pick up his sixth save as the Pirates won consecutive games for the first time since April 17-18.

Though McCutchen’s eighth-inning blast gave the Pirates some breathing room, it was his daring dash from second to home on an infield single to cap Pittsburgh’s three-run third inning stoked his teammates.

The Pirates had runners on first and second with two outs when McCutchen took off on Casey McGehee’s slow roller to shortstop. Desmond scooped it up and thought about firing to first before pulling the ball down. Desmond then glanced at third, but McCutchen was already on his way to the plate. By the time Desmond got the ball out of his hands, it was too late.

Desmond praised McCutchen’s speed rather than blame his own indecision.

“I would say nine or 10 times out of 10 that runner stops and tries to dive back into third,” Desmond said. “He saw that I fielded it and he looked at me and darted toward home.”

Ross Detwiler (3-2) allowed three runs and seven hits with four strikeouts in six innings for Washington. Desmond had two hits and Xavier Nady and Chad Tracy knocked in runs for the Nationals.

Washington had its chances to rally in both the eighth and ninth innings.

The Nationals loaded the bases with one out in the eighth against Jason Grilli, but Grilli struck out Danny Espinosa and Rick Ankiel to end the threat.

Hanrahan, who blew a save on Tuesday only to be bailed out by Rod Barajas’ game-winning two-run homer, entered in the ninth and struggled again. He hit pinch-hitter Steve Lombardozzi with one out then gave up a double to Desmond.

In stepped heralded Washington rookie Bryce Harper, still looking for his first major league home run. He swung for the fences while falling behind 0-2 then popped meekly to shortstop.

Ryan Zimmerman followed and worked the count full before striking out on a 96 mph fastball from Hanrahan.

“I had a good pitch to hit, I just missed it,” Zimmerman said. “(Hanrahan) throws hard; it’s not easy to square someone up like that.”

The victory gave the Pirates something they haven’t had in awhile: momentum. Save for a brief two-game slide in St. Louis last week, Pittsburgh has alternated wins and losses in each game.

The Pirates hoped Bedard would give them a boost. Instead the oft-injured left-hander was lifted after throwing a fastball to Adam LaRoche in the second inning. Bedard grabbed his side after letting the pitch go. He tried to stretch for manager Clint Hurdle before being sent to the dugout.

“I think it just jumped on him,” Hurdle said.

Enter Lincoln, a spot starter turned long reliever. He gave up an unearned run, one hit and four strikeouts and one walk in three innings while dropping his ERA to 0.63.

“I had no time to think about getting into the game,” Lincoln said. “You just go in there and give ‘em what you got.”

Nady, making a start in right field in place of injured Jayson Werth, put Washington on the board with an RBI single in the fourth and Tracy’s pinch-hit sacrifice fly in the seventh pulled the Nationals within 3-2.

Washington would get no closer, though the Nationals refused to blame their slide on a letdown following an emotional home series with Philadelphia last weekend.

“I think guys are frustrated, not like we’re out of it by any means but guys are frustrated because they know what we can do,” Desmond said. “We know we’re a good offensive ballclub.”

NOTES: Injured Washington reliever Drew Storen could begin a throwing program by the end of the week. Storen hasn’t pitched all season while recovering from bone chips in his right elbow. Johnson said he’s hopeful Storen and closer Brad Lidge — recovering from abdominal surgery — will be making rehab appearances by the end of the month … The series concludes on Thursday when Washington’s Stephen Strasburg (2-0, 1.66 ERA) faces Pittsburgh’s Kevin Correia (1-2, 3.38) … Pittsburgh outfielder Alex Presley, mired in a 3-for-28 slump, didn’t start for the second straight game while he works in the batting cage.

WASHINGTON — Bryce Harper’s major-league career is all of four games old, but thus far the Washington Nationals’ 19-year-old rookie seems to have a way of making his presence known, of inserting himself into big moments.

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There he was in the outfield in the top of the fourth, seemingly losing sight of Justin Upton’s home run as it flew over the center-field fence. There he was in the bottom of the inning, sliding home and (maybe?) slapping the ball loose from catcher Miguel Montero’s loose grasp.

And there he was in the ninth, starting the inning with a laser-beam double, his second near-home run of the game, and standing there at home plate at the end, waiting for teammate Ian Desmond to round the bases after his walkoff blast off J.J. Putz sent the Diamondbacks home with a 5-4 loss at Nationals Park.

“I’m just trying to come in here and play my game hard,” Harper said. “I’m just trying to bring some fire to the table and play the game that I’ve known how to play my whole life.”

For the Diamondbacks, it was their second loss in six games on this road trip. Both have come in walkoff fashion in games in which their bullpen was unable to hold the lead. It was the fourth time this year they lost a game they led after seven innings. That happened four times all last season.

In Miami, it was setup man David Hernandez who gave up the lead and Brad Ziegler who lost it. On Wednesday, it was Putz, their normally reliable closer who has had a less-than-ideal work schedule the past two weeks.

When he appeared in Monday’s blowout win against the Marlins, it was his first outing in eight days and followed three consecutive games of getting warm in the bullpen but not entering. He command was erratic, and he looked so frustrated on the mound that manager Kirk Gibson sent a trainer out to check on his health. He was fine.

After a day off Tuesday, he was back out there on Wednesday, tasked with protecting a 4-3 lead.

Right away, his command looked suspect, and, of course, it was Harper who started things off, ripping an inside fastball that was supposed to be away for a double off the wall in right-center field.

“He was born for those situations, I think,” Nationals manager Davey Johnson said of Harper.

Putz rebounded, striking out the next two batters; one of the third strikes came on a splitter that was letter-high, probably not where Putz wanted it. And so with two out, up came Desmond, who was paying close attention to where Putz’s pitches had been going.

“He was throwing his splits up in the zone,” he said. “His fastballs were elevated to both guys ahead of me. I knew if I looked for the heater, I would be able to see the split up, and I would be able to react. I was really just locked in, and everything clicked for me right there.”

Putz threw Desmond three consecutive fastballs. The third was 93 mph and belt-high and Desmond sent it into the visitors’ bullpen in left-center field to snap the Nationals’ five-game losing streak.

“I was trying to go down and away and I left it up, middle, middle-in,” Putz said. “I made a bad pitch and he hit it a long way.”

Diamondbacks rewind

Harper’s “slap”: On a play at the plate in the fourth inning, Nationals rookie Bryce Harper slid hard into Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero, in the process jarring the ball loose from Montero’s grasp.

Montero said he would have been OK with the play if it were just a hard slide, but he thought Harper intentionally slapped the ball loose.

“I thought he went after my hands, my glove,” Montero said. “If you watch the replay, clearly you see that. … If he did that on purpose, that’s kind of a crappy play.”

Players can be called out for interference if an umpire rules a player intentionally slapped at the baseball.

“The umpire said he didn’t see it, but whatever,” Montero said. “That’s a tough play.”

Saunders’ flop: Harper was also part of a play of which left-hander Joe Saunders didn’t seem especially proud. On a slow roller to the right side, Saunders tried a dive-and-shuffle but wound up knocking the air out of himself as Harper reached with an infield single.

“It looked pretty bad,” Saunders said. “That’s going to be on Not Top 10 (plays) for a long time.

“It was more of a bellyflop. I tried to flip it because it was still hopping. I thought (first baseman Paul Goldschmidt) could catch the glove more than the ball and that maybe they could have called him out. You never know.”

Breslow shines: Entering with two on, none out and the Diamondbacks protecting a one-run lead, left-hander Craig Breslow extricated himself from a jam in the eighth inning.

After Adam LaRoche’s line drive out to right field, Breslow struck out Jesus Flores and Danny Espinoza to end the inning.

“Sometimes to wiggle out of those situations, you need some things to fall into place, like a line drive at somebody,” he said. “I think the most important thing in that situation is to take it one pitch at a time … and not be overwhelmed about having to get three outs.”

View from the press box

There’s no wrong answer, but when asked about Edwin Jackson’s 149-pitch no-hitter from 2010, Kirk Gibson said he wouldn’t have left him in if he were the manager. Gibson, the bench coach at the time, said then-manager A.J. Hinch asked for his input during the game. “I said, ‘I’d take him out,’ ” Gibson said. “I would have never let him go that far. It’s dangerous.” Jackson struggled in his next five starts but finished the season strong and, more importantly, never has suffered an arm injury.