Washington Nationals news & notes: Nats beat Reds, 8-5; Patrick Corbin solid in win; Josiah Gray headed for surgery…

Notes and quotes from a news-filled day in Nationals Park…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CORBIN:

Patrick Corbin celebrated his 35th birthday with one of his best starts of the season, going six innings on 104 pitches on Friday night, in which he gave up just three hits and one run.

Corbin held the Cincinnati Reds in check in the series and “second-half” opener in Nationals Park, striking out six without issuing a walk in an 8-5 win for Washington, in which he had 16 swinging and 12 called strikes.

“Corbin was good. Corbin was really good,” Nats’ skipper Davey Martinez said after the win in the nation’s capital. “He pitched really well. That’s what we needed after four days off.”

A two-out single and stolen base by Stuart Fairchild, and an RBI single by Jonathan India put the visiting Reds up early, but it was all Corbin gave up in six innings of work, and a four-run fourth and three-run fifth put the home team up, 7-1, before they added a run in the seventh, then gave up four in the ninth, 8-5.

James Wood drove in the first two runs of the game for the Nationals, with a single through the right side which scored Jesse Winker (1-out walk) and Juan Yepez (single). Keibert Ruiz’s two-run home run an out later made it a 4-1 game, then Yepez (who started the night with a a 10-game hit streak going, over which he was 14 for 37 (.378 AVG) with six doubles, three RBI, six walks, and six runs scored), hit a three-run home run in the fifth (2 for 4, 2 R, 3 RBIs).

“Our offense showed up,” Martinez told reporters after the game. “We were patient. We got a couple of big home runs. And Woody with a nice base hit, two RBIs. So we played well.”

THE BAD NEWS:

Before last night’s game, the Nationals made it official, with both Josiah Gray and manager Davey Martinez announcing the 26-year-old starter was headed for surgery on his elbow.

“He’s going to have surgery,” Martinez told reporters in his pregame press conference from Nationals Park. “He has a slight tear of his UCL.

“At this point, he’s going to have the surgery. We don’t know whether they’re going to do the brace or the full [Tommy John surgery]. Only time will tell when they go in there and explore and see how bad the tear is. He’s going be out a while.”

Gray went on the IL in April with a right elbow/forearm flexor strain, but returned to the hill in the minors for four rehab starts before noting something was wrong in his fifth outing. A subsequent MRI revealed the tear.

“It got looked at by Dr. [Keith] Meister over the All-Star break and we found a little partial tear in UCL,” Gray explained, as quoted by MASN’s Bobby Blanco.

“So we’re gonna opt for elbow surgery here. It’s gonna, obviously, end the year for me. I got a long road ahead, but that was kind of what the doctor saw and we got that opinion from him and we’re kind of going to hit the ground running.”

Photo by Randy Litzinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

“He didn’t feel anything until his last rehab start,” Martinez said:

“He just said he felt like he had dead arm. So we let it rest. After talking to him, he just kind of wanted to let it rest before he went and saw the doctor again. And they deemed that, after swelling went down, he had a little slight tear. Then it was up to him with what he wanted to do and how he wanted to handle it. Between him and the doctor, they opted to have the surgery.”

Martinez talked to his starter after the pitcher got the news, and the two had what the Nats’ skipper described as an emotional graduation.

“It was tough,” he acknowledged. “He was emotional, I got emotional. As you know, I love the kid, just like I do all the other ones we got. But he’s kind of special because he cares a lot about this organization, this team, and wanted to be out there and compete and help us win. But I told him, I said, ‘Hey, there’s been a lot more before you. You’re not going to be the last one. You’ll get through this and it will make you a better, stronger person, and a player.”

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