Washington Nationals 3-1 over Pittsburgh Pirates: Patrick Corbin Ks 12 in eight strong

Patrick Corbin held the Pirates to one run through eight, and Yadiel Hernández came up with a go-ahead double.

Corbin Still Searching … Finds Something:

Patrick Corbin’s four-inning, 83-pitch outing against the Orioles last week in Baltimore’s Oriole Park at Camden Yards, which saw him give up seven hits, two of them homers, a walk, and three earned runs, left the left-hander with a (3-10) record in 15 starts, with an ugly 6.60 ERA, a 4.98 FIP, 28 walks, 63 Ks, and a .322/.380/.526 line against in 73 ²⁄₃ IP.

Corbin ended up throwing 83 pitches in just four innings at least in part because the O’s hitters fouled off 30 pitches overall, but in spite of the results, the southpaw said he was happy with his stuff in the outing.

“Numbers-wise, it’s terrible,” he said of his stats overall this season, as quoted by MASN’s Mark Zuckerman, but, he reiterated, he continues to feel like his stuff is good, even if the results are not there.

Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

“I feel my stuff was pretty good. I think I was up to 96 (mph) today,” Corbin said. “Thought I had some good sliders, good command of my fastball. Did get some weak contact. Other than those two homers there, and a lot of foul balls, which drove the pitch count up, I felt like my stuff was pretty good. But maybe it’s not.”

Corbin held the Pittsburgh Pirates off the board through five tonight, working around a hit and a walk in the first, retiring the side in order in the second, stranding back-to-back one-out hits in the third, setting the Pirates down in a quick, 1-2-3 fourth, and leaving a leadoff single and two-out walk on in the fifth, which he completed at 72 pitches, but two outs into the sixth, Diego Castillo hit a full-count sinker up in the zone out to right and over the out-of-town scoreboard for a game-tying solo shot, 1-1.

A nine-pitch, 1-2-3 seventh left Corbin at 99 pitches total on the night, and with the score still tied after the bottom of the inning, his manager sent him back out for the eighth and his quick, 1-2-3 inning, in which he struck out the side, left him at 113 pitches total with 12 Ks, from the 31 batters faced, in what was still a 1-1 game…

Patrick Corbin’s Line: 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 12 Ks, 1 HR, 113 P, 73 S, 5/3 GO/FO.

Quintana Round Two:

José Quintana gave up five hits, three walks, and three earned runs over four innings on the mound in PNC Park when the Pirates and Nationals played in Pittsburgh back in mid-April.

Nats’ hitters scored three runs off Quintana in the second inning of that game, but came up empty the rest of the way against the lefty and the Bucs’ ‘pen in what ended up a 5-3 loss.

Going into his second start of the season against the Nationals, the 33-year-old, 11-year vet was winless in his last eight turns in the rotation, with a 4.28 ERA, 3.71 FIP, 10 walks, 36 Ks, and a .286/.328/.453 line against in 40 IP over that stretch.

Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

Quintana fell behind 1-0 early in this outing, giving up back-to-back, one-out singles by Juan Soto and Josh Bell, with Soto taking third on Bell’s hit, running on contact, and scoring on a Nelson Cruz chopper to third, 1-0 Nationals.

Quintana held it there through four, working around a leadoff double and two-out error in the second, retiring the side in order in the third, and stranding a one-out walk and single the fourth time out on the mound in the nation’s capital.

He worked around a one-out walk to Juan Soto in the fifth, and the Pirates’ lefty came back out for the sixth in a 1-1 game, courtesy of a home run by Diego Castillo in the Bucs’ sixth, and retired the Nationals in order in a 10-pitch frame which left him at 97 total for the night.

José Quintana’s Line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 Ks, 97 P, 62 S, 4/4 GO/FO.

Bullpen Action:

One-time Nats’ prospect Wil Crowe took over for the Pirates in the bottom of the seventh, and retired the first two batters he faced, but Lane Thomas K’d swinging on a passed ball, which allowed him to take first base. Juan Soto stepped in with a runner on and two outs, and went down swinging over a 2-2 slider.

Crowe returned in the bottom of the eighth and gave up a leadoff single by Josh Bell and a two-out walk to César Hernández, and pinch hitter Yadiel Hernández stepped in next and a double to right on an 0-1 changeup drove both runners in for a 3-1 Nationals’ lead.

Tanner Rainey came on in the ninth with a two-run lead, and worked around a one-out walk to pinch hitter Daniel Vogelbach and a two-out single by Bligh Madris to end it. Ballgame.

Nationals now 29-48