Notes and quotes on the Nationals’ win over the Red Sox in the series opener in Fenway Park…
CORBIN IN FENWAY:
“You can’t let guys off the hook,” Toronto Blue Jays’ skipper John Schneider said, as quoted on MLB.com, after Patrick Corbin gave up three runs in the second inning of his start in the nation’s capital last week, but limited the damage after that, giving up just the three runs in what ended up a six-inning, 92-pitch start.
“Whether it’s Corbin or [expletive] Babe Ruth, it doesn’t matter,” Schneider said. “Cy Young, it doesn’t matter. You have to keep grinding. That’s what we’ll address going forward.”
Corbin stranded a single and a walk in the third, stranded two in the fourth, and retired the last eight batters he faced in the outing.
“I was fortunate to just give up those three there in the second,” Corbin said, as quoted by MASN’s Mark Zuckerman.
“Put up some zeros after that. Bullpen came in, put up some zeros.”
Corbin came out of the start with a 6.45 ERA, a 4.41 FIP, and a .342/.393/.555 line against in seven outings and 37 2⁄3 IP.
Going into start No. 8 for the 34-year-old left-hander, his manager, Davey Martinez, said he hoped to see more of the same from Corbin as he went up against the Boston Red Sox.
“Just attack the strike zone. Keep the ball down. Like I said, he’s been pitching a lot better. We got to catch the ball behind him, play a clean game, hopefully he gives us 5-6 innings, and we get the lead,” Martinez said before the series opener on the road in Fenway Park.
Corbin gave Martinez and the Nationals five innings on Friday night, escaping a two-out jam in the Sox’ first when Victor Robles threw out a runner at home plate on a line drive to right, stranding a two-out single in the second, retiring the side in order in the third, surrendering a run on a two-out double in the fourth, then stranding two in the fifth, before the manager went to the bullpen in the bottom of the sixth inning.
El disparo de Víctor Robles y la terminación de Keibert Ruiz pic.twitter.com/fyJPPiIcit
— Erick José Lantigua (@EJLantigua) May 11, 2024
The visitors were up 3-1 at that point, and they added to their lead with two in the ninth, as the bullpen limited the Red Sox to two hits and four walks the rest of the way.
“That was great,” Martinez said after the 5-1 win. “I always say, if we come out and jump to get the lead early, it gets our pitchers to relax a little bit.
“We did that and he was able to settle in a little bit. He gave us what we needed. And the bullpen came in and shut it down.”
Pitching his way out of the fifth, when it was still 3-1 in the Nationals’ favor, and he gave up back-to-back infield hits to start the inning, stood out for Martinez.
Photo by Brian Fluharty/Getty Images
“That was a big moment of the game and he pitched his way out of it,” Martinez explained.
“So he got a couple infield hits, but he threw the ball really well.”
“I got into a good rhythm as the game went on,” Corbin said, as quoted by MASN’s Bobby Blanco after earning his first W of the year. “I thought we used all the pitches well. Pitched them in, pitched them away, change of speeds. That last inning there, the two infield hits there to get into a jam and then made some good pitches after that. So it was just good to get through five there and keep the lead there. We tacked on a couple of runs late and kind of put the game out of reach.”
ROBLES RETURNS; PLAYS RIGHT FIELD:
Victor Robles started his first game since returning from IL and rehab stints a couple back, and Nationals’ manager Davey Martinez, who’d hinted he might do as much to keep both Jacob Young and Robles in the lineup, started Robles in right field for the first time (in the majors) since 2019.
“He’s a good athlete,” Martinez said. “So I always feel like if you can play center field you can play the corners as well. We talked to him about it, made sure he played some games on his rehab in right field, so he’s good to go.”
The skipper said he and his coaches would be watching, but he thought Robles was good to go.
“Look, it’s his first game back after rehab. So he’s played well in Triple-A. I talked to him, he said he feels great, so I told him, I said, ‘Hey, just go out there and play your game.’
“‘We’ll keep an eye on you.’ But for him it’s just about getting on base, playing good defense, and trying to score some runs for us.”
Photo by Brian Fluharty/Getty Images
Robles returned from a hamstring strain, and had an (almost) immediate impact, with a nice throw in from right field to cut a runner down at home in the Red Sox’ first, a single the first time up, and a two-out RBI single in the ninth, as the Nationals padded their lead with two in the top of the inning to go up 5-1.
“We know Vic can play some defense. He did really well in right field … he did really well in right field,” Martinez said after the win.
“It’s a different throw over there in right field. He said, ‘Man, I threw the ball too far up the line.’ I said, ‘No. You want to throw it on the third base side of home plate. You don’t want to throw it on the other side, it gets — but, I said, ‘That was a perfect throw, and you got rid of it really quick.’ But he did good.”
“And he got a couple hits for us. So it was awesome.”
“As soon as I saw the ball coming I knew I had a chance to throw him out,” Robles said of his throw home and the out at home, “ … and I was just trying to focus on making a good throw, one bounce, and luckily it did tail towards the right side, but luckily it tailed towards the runner and I was still able to make it on one bounce, I was happy about that.”
victor extends the lead! pic.twitter.com/5uCcEZLgpY
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) May 11, 2024
And his two hits?
“The same thing I’ve been working on for the last few years,” Robles said. “It’s just looking for a good pitch, staying patient and trying to make good contact.”
“He stayed on the ball really well,” Martinez told reporters.
“He tried to stay on the fastball and hit the other way. He got a couple breaking balls that he was able to pull, but he did really well. He really did.
“I was very pleased, very proud of him. We’ll see what we got tomorrow.”
GARCÍA JR.’S TIME?:
Luis García, Jr. debuted in the majors as a 20-year-old in 2020, so while it seems as if he’s been around forever, he’s still only 23 (for a few more days at least), and he is still figuring out who he can be, with help from the Nationals’ manager and coaches.
“You know, I’ve had him now for four years,” skipper Davey Martinez told reporters earlier this week when asked about the infielder’s development, “… and I’ve always said there’s something in there, right? I just got to figure out how to get it out of him, get him to understand what we’re trying to do, what he’s trying to do, and he’s starting to figure it out, which is awesome. He’s been engaged, not only hitting, but playing defense as well.
“He’s made some good plays,” Martinez added. “I’m watching him, his pre-pitch is getting a lot better. He knows what he wants to do now, when he’s hitting, and when he’s playing the field, so it’s been fun to watch him. It’s still a long season, so we got to keep him going.”
Through 31 games and 115 total plate appearances going into the series opener with the Red Sox in Boston last night, García, Jr. had a .321/.374/.491 line with nine doubles, three home runs, nine walks, 21 Ks, and seven stolen bases (just two shy of his previous season-high of nine SBs in 144 games last year).
GM and President of Baseball ops in D.C., Mike Rizzo, told Audacy’s Sports Junkies this past Wednesday morning that the early results are a result of some tough conversations late last year, and hard work on García, Jr.’s part over the winter.
Photo by Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images
“Luis put a lot of work in this offseason,” Rizzo told The Junkies. “We had our exit meetings with Luis and told him — kind of asked him, ‘What you want to be in your career? Do you want to be a 4-5 year, up/down player, or do you want to be a 12-year big league stalwart, and your career could go in two different ways.’ And I think he really took that to heart, and really worked out hard, and had a good offseason. He’s in terrific shape, he’s moving better, he’s running faster. He always had the hands, the head, and what I call the bat speed and the flick to be a good big league hitter, and I think the work he’s put in with [Hitting Coach] Darnell [Coles] and CJ [Assistant Hitting Coach Chris Johnson], our two hitting guys, has been remarkable.”
What we’re seeing now, Rizzo explained, is the result of a few years’ worth of work and growth on García, Jr.’s part.
“Luis’s transformation has been subtle, but it’s been a work in progress for a couple years,” Rizzo said, “and I think that he’s really focused in more defensively, and on the basepaths, and taking his at-bats and competing in the batter’s box much better.”
It’s just 31 games, of course, (32 after García, Jr. went 1 for 4 with a run scored last night), but it is a good start for an infielder who is still developing in his fifth year in the majors, who is just approaching his 24th birthday.
And he’s not alone.
“When you look at [Trey] Lipscomb, and [CJ] Abrams, and Luis, they’re all 23-ish years old, give or take, and they’ve got some service time left,” Rizzo added, “… and it’s really kind of refreshing seeing these guys growing together and really bonding and becoming good teammates and good friends together.”