No sweep for the Pirates as the Nationals salvaged one in the series finale in PNC Park…
Patrick Corbin retired the final thirteen batters he faced after giving up two runs early in the series finale with the Pittsburgh Pirates in PNC Park, and Washington Nationals’ hitters put a total of six runs on the board to support their starter while he was on the mound in a sweep-avoiding 6-2 win in the series finale of the three-game set with the Bucs.
Corbin vs Pittsburgh: Patrick Corbin gave up 4-to-6 runs in eight of nine outings heading into his start against New York last time out before today, then held Mets’ hitters to three runs on 11 hits in seven innings of work in a 4-3 win in Nationals Park in which he received no decision.
In what’s been a tough season for the southpaw, it was a relatively good outing.
“I thought early on I made some pitches,” Corbin said after the game. “They got some hits that fell in that necessarily weren’t hit that hard, but I felt like I was able to pitch out of a couple jams, which was good, and overall felt great, and to get around 115 pitches today, feeling strong to that point, I was pleased with it.”
Trying to follow up on that outing, Corbin took the mound today in PNC Park and stranded a single and a walk in a 16-pitch first.
He took the mound with a 1-0 lead in the second, courtesy of a Luis García home run in the top of the inning, but the Pirates answered back with back-to-back hits by Wilmer Difo and Anthony Alford, a groundout that moved both up, and well-executed squeeze bunt by Bucs’ starter Bryse Wilson that brought in the tying run, 1-1.
Kevin Newman hit a center-cut 1-1 fastball to left for a leadoff triple in the home-half of the third, and a sac fly to center by Bryan Reynolds brought in run No. 2 for the Pirates, 2-1.
A four-run top of the fourth gave Corbin a 5-2 lead to work with, and he responded with a 10-pitch, 1-2-3 bottom of the inning, and retired the side in order in a 12-pitch frame which left him at 76 total after five.
A 17-pitch, 1-2-3 sixth lefty Corbin at 93 pitches overall, with ten-straight Pirates’ batters set down, and an eight-pitch, 1-2-3 frame in the bottom of the seventh got him up to 13 in-a-row retired and 101 total pitches overall…
Patrick Corbin’s Line: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 Ks, 101 P, 64 S, 10/5 GO/FO.
Patrick Corbin also went 1-for-2 with a BB and a run scored at the dish.#NATITUDE pic.twitter.com/T2VsCGOonR
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) September 12, 2021
Wilson vs Washington: Pirates’ starter Bryse Wilson, acquired from the Atlanta Braves in the Richard Rodríguez deal at the trade deadline, was (0-3) in six starts for Pittsburgh’s Pirates going into the series finale with the Nationals in PNC Park this afternoon, with a 4.35 ERA, a 4.32 FIP, eight walks, 20 Ks, and a .248/.291/.436 line against in 31 IP, coming off a six-inning start against the Detroit Tigers this past week in which he gave up six hits, two walks, and three earned runs.
Wilson tossed a scoreless, 21-pitch first inning this afternoon, working around a walk to Juan Soto and a single by Josh Bell, but a 1-0 fastball to Luis García in the second drifted back in from the outside edge of the zone, and García crushed it, hitting a 401-foot home run out to right-center field for his 5th of the season and a 1-0 Nats’ lead after one and a half.
Luis Gar-SEEYA LATER.#NATITUDE pic.twitter.com/yreeUXNexZ
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) September 12, 2021
It was 1-1 when Wilson came out for the third, and worked around a single in a 21-pitch third, and 2-1 when he returned to the mound in the fourth and retired two batters before leaving an 0-2 sinker up for Alex Avila, who hit his first homer of the year out to the last row of seats in the right field bleachers in PNC, 2-2.
Adrián Sanchez doubled to right in the next at bat and moved to third on a Patrick Corbin single, then both runners scored on a three-run, opposite field home run to right field off Lane Thomas’s bat, 5-2.
ALLLLLLLL ABOOOOOOOOOOOOARD! #NATITUDE pic.twitter.com/h7mwQhNHCk
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) September 12, 2021
The second walk, in three plate appearances, to Juan Soto, and a one-out single by Yadiel Hernández, ended Wilson’s outing after he threw 77 pitches in 4 1⁄3 IP…
Bryse Wilson’s Line: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 0 Ks, 3 HRs, 77 P, 50 S, 9/2 GO/FO.
SotoSeptember: Juan Soto went into today’s series finale in PNC Park 20 for 51 (.392 AVG), with a double, four home runs, 13 RBIs, 17 walks, one hit by pitch, and 12 runs scored in his last 15 games.
Soto walked the first time up today, flew out to left in the third, walked again in his third trip to the plate, and then tripled to lead off the seventh, lining his second three-base hit of the year into the right-center gap before scoring the sixth run of the game for the Nationals on an RBI single by Yadiel Hernández.
Soto added a ground-rule double to the left field corner in his final plate appearance in the top of the ninth.
Bullpen Action: Kyle Keller came on with two on and one out in the Nationals’ half of the fifth and stranded both of the runners he inherited, retiring Luis García on a line drive to left, and Alex Avila on a swinging K. Still 5-2 Nats.
Pirates’ righty Luis Oviedo worked around a single by Adrián Sanchez and a walk to Patrick Corbin in a scoreless top of the sixth.
Oviedo returned to the mound in the seventh and gave up a leadoff triple on a 1-2 curve to Juan Soto, who lined it into the right-center gap, just out of reach of a diving Ben Gamel for Soto’s second three-bagger this year. Josh Bell walked in the next at bat to put two on base in front of Yadiel Hernández, who lined an RBI single to center field to give the Nationals a 6-2 lead after six and a half.
Mason Thompson issued a leadoff walk to Hoy Park in the first at bat of the Pirates’ eighth, and gave up a one-out single before the Nationals went to the pen again, for right-hander Kyle Finnegan, who got out No. 2 on a passed ball that bounced off Alex Avila’s glove, but didn’t go far enough for the runners to advance, as Park got thrown out trying to take third base. Bryan Reynolds sent a fly to left for out No. 3. Still 6-2 Nationals.
Sam Howard came on for the Bucs in the ninth and tossed a scoreless frame.
Finnegan came back for more in the Pirates’ ninth and retired the side in order to end it.
Ballgame.
Final Score: 6-2 Nationals
Nationals now 59-84