Washington Nationals news & notes: Nats hit five home runs; beat Dodgers 10-6 to avoid sweep in Los Angeles…

Corbin in LA:

“He faced 10 hitters,” said Davey Martinez after Patrick Corbin allowed seven hits, one walk and six earned runs. ²⁄₃ innings against los angeles dodgers In the game in July last year, he lost 1 to 7 with a crushing defeat of 45 balls.

“And he couldn’t pull away from the guys he got first. I didn’t,” Martinez explained after picking up Corbin in the bottom of the first inning.

The manager had hoped Corbin would sort things out and at least hang around to finish the inning, but that didn’t seem to happen.

“That shouldn’t have happened,” he said. “Around the 40th ball, he started to get a little nervous. I don’t want to hurt him.”

“We didn’t fool them at all today,” Corbin said. Quoted by Mark Zuckerman of MASN.

Was that final trip to Chavez Valley still on the mind when Corbin took the mound for the series finale Wednesday at Dodger Stadium?

For the now 33-year-old lefty, the start didn’t go well…

Corbin’s fourth pitch, a 2-1 cross-over slider to Mookie Betts (Who started the game by hitting a double in that game last year?), yesterday at 1-0, hit a leadoff home run 379 feet to the left field, after Freddie Freeman singled (with the first fastball), Dodgers catcher Will Smith threw a 0-1 sinker to the 386-foot center of the zone and scored two runs for a 3-0 lead.

A walk to JD Martinez was negated with a double play, and a two-out single was left behind as Corbin was able to limit the damage to some extent on 21 pitches.

After the Nationals narrowed their lead to 3-2, Corbyn stepped out in the second, but Freddie Freeman’s ground ball was errored by Luis Garcia and Will Smith singled to Wright.No one cut on the way home, allowing Smith to double when Freeman received the stop sign at third base.), going undefeated in the home half of the third inning to put two runners in scoring position. A walk to JD Martinez put the bases loaded, and Max Muncy walked it to make it 4-3 LA. Corbin scored his next three outs without further damage…

A one-out grounder and an inning-ending 6-3-1 DP wiped out a leadoff single in the bottom of the fourth, and Corbin hit a one-out double and a two-out walk in the fifth to end the game. On this day he threw 88 pitches in five innings…

Patrick Corbin quote: 5.0IP, 7H, 4R, 3ER, 4BB, 2K, 2HR, 88P, 50S, 5/4GO/FO.

Corbin had just six swing strikes, three changeups, and a sinker, slider, and four-seamer on the day, but he had 18 cold strikes and a sinker on the out. Acquired 15 Cold Strikes.

“The hangslider, I struck out Mookie on the first slider, then another hit, and I hit a home run on the pitch,” Corbin said after analyzing his own pitching after the 10-6 win. .

“But I just try to go as deep as I can, so I thought it was big to get past the five there, and the offense was able to score a few points, so we kept it close and then the second half. I made a few more tackles on , which was very good.” But I think coming out with a score like that just kept us in that situation.”

Key moments:

• Leading 3-0 in the first inning, the Nationals faced Dodgers starter Noah Syndergaard in the second, after Jamer Candelario walked and Dom Smith grounded out a double play. I started swinging, but then Keibert Lewis attacked and started swinging. In Lewis’s sixth, a sinker over the middle of the 3-1 home run to the middle field (3-1)2nd place in 2 games). Then came CJ Abrams’ 6th, and from 1-1, the away Abrams powered out at sinker low to right-center to make it 3-2. Good reaction, nuts.

• Joey Meneses (2 vs 2) The top of the third inning was connected with a single from two outs, and Corey Dickerson’s walks won the game, and Jaymer Candelario’s timely hits scored (one-on-one, BB) Two and a half hours after the final inning, he hit a RBI hit to the right wing and caught up with the score of 3-3.

• Meneses hit a double with 1 out in the 5th inning today, the day after he went 3-for-3, and after 1 out, Candelario hit the 7th out of 2023 to center field, 405 feet to center, making it 1-0. is. 5-4 Nationals with a charge on the changeup.

The home run came after Dickerson’s line drive to second base pushed Meneses wide off second base, but Miguel Vargas’ high toss into the bag prevented the Dodgers from making an inning-ending comeback.

Bullpen action:

Carl Edwards Jr. allowed a double to Miguel Rojas for Patrick Corbin in the bottom of the sixth, but then carelessly allowed a runner to steal a triple. Despite an intentional walk to Freddie Freeman and an unintended walk to Will Smith to load the bases, Edwards Jr. struck out J.D. Martinez to end the inning and give the Knots a run. kept the lead. 5-4.

In Los Angeles, Kyle Finnegan pitched in the seventh inning and gave a one-out walk for a pitching clock violation before the full count, and Miguel Rojas scored a freebee on a two-out single to center field, tying the score on that hit. . Things turned around 5-5.

The Nationals were unlikely to take advantage of HBP (About Keibert Lewis), and an error on CJ Abrams’ ground ball, Abrams ran on contact with Ildemaro Vargas’ ground ball and was hung up and tagged out. Lane Thomas hit two outs in his next at-bat. But then Luis Garcia faced Dodgers right-hander Brusder Glateror and hit a 3-run homer to the right down the 0-2 slider to take an 8-5 lead.

Finnegan returned to the mound in the eighth inning, where Mookie Betts hit the first homer to make it 8–6.

Hunter Harvey replaced Finnegan to come out of the eighth inning with a 2-point lead, 8-6.

In the top of the ninth inning, 10-6, Keibert Ruiz scored two runs from the left side and enjoyed this…

His manager didn’t seem too thrilled with Lewis’ celebrations after hitting the second shot in Wednesday’s game.

“Well, it was kind of a lot,” he said of the celebration. “But yeah, not me, but I love it. I’m really happy he came out today and did what he did.”

Back Page – Speaking of Keibert Lewis:

As the reporter pointed out, it gave some credence to Davey Martinez’s advice to Keibert-Lewis, despite the lack of results in the first two months, and Nationals catcher . It was decided to face the final game of the series at the stadium. 071 lower than the league average (. 292), so sticking with what the 24-year-old backstop is doing may actually be the right move the manager said.

Ruiz’s Barrel% (9.4%) increased from 2022 (3.7%), HardHit% increased (from 32.3% in 2022 to 36.5%), SweetSpot% (36.3% to 40.3%) also increased, and K% It is down (11.5 to 7.8) and Walk% is a little better (6.9% to 7.3%). So yes, his manager said on Wednesday, keep doing what you’re doing, even though it’s sometimes difficult (Like when you have .225/.297/.353 lines in a year after 46 games and 192PA).

“It’s really hard,” admitted Martinez. “Because you’re doing everything right. And that’s how we have to explain it to him. ‘Hey, you’re doing everything right, you’re doing two to one game You’re hitting three balls hard, I know it’s frustrating, but you can’t change that right now.” You’re in a good position. ’ So they will fall, they will fall. ”

Gary A. Vazquez – USA TODAY Sports

Martinez, who batted .276 (.341 OBP, .389 SLG) in his 16 MLB seasons as a player, said he sometimes made minor changes at bat when he didn’t get hits.

“When I played, sometimes I experienced it, I would move two inches up in the box or two inches back in the box. I never changed my approach,” he said. Told.

“But just to see if it helps a little bit. let’s

“You know? Maybe if I had two more inches I could hit the ball a little further forward or hit the ball a little further back.

“But when it comes to his mechanics and his swing, he’s in great shape, so we don’t want him messing around with stuff like that.”

Lewis hit a home run (From the right side for the first time this year) in the second of three games against the Dodgers on Tuesday, but in the last 10 games to the Finals, the Nationals’ switch-hitter catcher went 7-for-33 (.212/.316/.424). stayed.

Photo Credit: Harry Howe/Getty Images

Martinez said a little up and down in the box might help the mental side of the match more than anything else.

“Absolutely. The biggest part of this match, especially for young players, is the mental side, right?” he asked rhetorically.

“I mean, you know we’re trying to teach them how to not focus on the mechanics of striking and focus on other things.”

Martinez said he likes Lewis’ pitch selection and at-bat discipline, but would like to see him swing more pitches in zones where he can deal damage.

“He has to get the ball in the zone, right? [are] It’s his kryptonite,” explained the sixth grade captain. “So we talk a lot with him about seeing the ball go up. And you can hit a curve ball up, too, so if you’re going to swing on a curve ball, make sure it’s up. please.”

Lewis hit two home runs in the final, and hit a total of three home runs in the series.