Washington Nationals news & notes: Patrick Corbin hit hard early in Nationals’ 7-3 loss to Pirates in PNC

Notes and quotes from the Nationals’ loss in the series finale with the Pirates in PNC Park…

OLD CORBIN VS THE PIRATES:

Patrick Corbin took the mound Sunday afternoon in PNC Park 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA (5 ER/22 IP) over his last four starts, a 2.82 FIP, eight walks (3.27 BB/9), 24 strikeouts (9.81 K/9), and a .244/.319/.342 line against in those outings, one of his best stretches over the last few years of struggling for the now-35-year-old lefty playing out the final season of his six-year/$140M contract with Washington’s Nationals.

“His slider has been a lot better,” Davey Martinez said when the manager was asked what he thought was different the last few of Corbin’s starts after he’d finished 5 ²⁄₃ innings against the Marlins in Miami.

“But keeping the ball down. I attribute everything to him about keeping everything down.

“The minute he throws a ball up, he gets hit hard.”

Corbin told reporters, as quoted by MASN’s Bobby Blanco, it was all about location and the right mix of pitches.

“I think staying out of the middle of the plate, mixing in the cutter well, changing speeds with the slider. I’m working well with [catcher] Keibert [Ruiz] there,” the veteran southpaw said.

“Offense has put up a lot of runs and defensively has been good too. So the team has been playing well behind me.”

“But just staying out of the middle of the plate, and being able to get those strikeouts when needed. So just try to continue to do what’s been working and go from there.”

He took the mound against the Pirates on Sunday, and struggled at the start, with a four-run, 27-pitch first, in which Corbin gave up a leadoff single, threw a wild pitch, gave up a two-run home run, two-out single, and back-to-back doubles.

Corbin allowed three more runs, one each in the third (HR), fourth (run-scoring ground ball), and sixth innings (solo HR), at which point it was a 7-2 game in the Pirates’ favor.

Martinez, short-handed after Saturday’s doubleheader, stuck with his starter through the top of the sixth, at which point Corbin was up to 102 pitches, with 10 hits, three home runs, and the seven earned runs allowed. He did get 15 swinging and 15 called strikes overall in the outing.

“Two-seamer wasn’t there today, he tried to throw a lot more cutters,” Martinez explained, turning to it 39% of the time on Sunday (up from 18% cutters in Miami).

“Some were good, some were not good. Just he didn’t have the effect on that cutter as he normally has, left a lot of balls out over the plate.”

“They came out hot there,” Corbin said of the Pirates’ first, “… and then just the first homer, cutter just middle of the plate. Not wanting it there, just ended there, and then same with a couple of the other hits, just kind of not burying the slider as well as I have been doing. Just a little too much middle of the plate with everything, I thought we did a good job mixing it up, just the location was a little off.”

“I thought I made a couple pitches,” he added, “… they got some bloopers, and then just let up the big homer. So I was just maybe not as consistent today. Some quick at-bats, they put the ball in play, got some hits, and maybe was in the middle a little bit more today.”

He did give his club some much-needed length at least.

“We needed that,” Martinez said.

“I say this all the time: Forget about his record, forget about everything. The guy goes out there to pitch, to give you length every five days.

“He’s awesome, he really is. I can’t [enough] about what he meant to us over these last few years, especially with our young pitching staff and how he helped them. And how he takes the ball and gives us what we need when the other guys are out early in games. It saves our bullpen. He’s been great.”