Corbin VS Twins:
Patrick Corbin, who was given a 1-0 lead before taking the mound at Target Field in Minnesota, pitched a scoreless 3 on 55 pitches on Sunday afternoon after giving up leadoff for the second bases-loaded jam. got out of After a single, a one-out single, a two-out walk, and a leadoff ROE and a two-out hit, he grounded two batters in the third.
His 57th pitch was 380 feet left and into the stands, but Jorge Polanco’s home run tied the series finale at 1-1.
Two outs later, Michael A. Taylor unleashed another blast, taking a center-cut sinker 444 feet to center field and out in front of the second deck, the 2-1 Twins.
Corbin was one run down and was up to 66 after a fourth pitch of 11 pitches.
Corbin had two quick outs in the bottom of the fifth, but an inning-extending walk to José Landa, Ryan Jeffers’ single to center that fell in front of charging Victor Robles, and a two-out RBI single by Jorge Polanco. Home he put his team up 3–1 and the Knotts starter was frustrated, throwing up to 84 pitches overall after the fifth pitch.
A 12-pitch, 1-2-3 No. 6 sent off Corbin for a total of 96 and he finished the day…
Patrick Corbin’s line: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 Ks, 2 HR, 96 P, 63 S, 7/1 GO/FO.
The lefty closed out the night with 10 swing strikes, 9 sliders, 21 call strikes, 14 sinkers, and 7 sliders.
“He put the fastball down,” Martinez said in the postgame press conference.
“He was going both sides of the plate. But most of the time it was down. His slider was also good, so he’s pitching good.”
Initial attack:
“We have to keep going,” said Davey Martinez after the Twins won their second straight three-game series this weekend in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
“We have Patrick Corbin tomorrow. We’ll come out and score first and try to win another game,” added the sixth-year skipper.
And they did just that. At least the first part of the score.
Jaymer Candelario walked on first down, Luis Garcia walked on second down, and Keibert Ruiz hit a fly to left field. Twins in the target field.
A long 28-pitch Bailey-over ended in a strikeout at first, but the Nationals took an early lead in the Twins’ starting lineup, but the home team trailed two in the fourth, one in the fifth, 3-1. , and the Nuts’ attack dried up and the club failed to put any runners in scoring position after the first.
BACK PAGE – Sneaky Pop:
CJ Abrams hit two home runs in 90 games with the Padres before San Diego traded the 22-year-old shortstop to the Nationals on a Juan Soto/Josh Bell deal last August, but Abrams’ Washington He managed no success in the first 62 games of 2018. By Saturday afternoon, he had a single shot outside the park and was below the zone for a 0-1 changeup from Twins reliever Woods Richardson. 10-4 win for the Visitors team.
Davey Martinez talks about Abrams’ first blowout in his 236th at-bat with the Nationals.
“The ball was down and he was finishing his swing really well and he was energized. You see that in batting practice and you have to translate that into the game.
“Today he was able to get the ball down, go through the ball, hit the ball hard into right field, and it was a home run.”
Questions about 1B/DH:
Joey Meneses’ 10 hits in the last 6 games (10 to 27, .370 AVG) was one of 11 he’s batted in the first 13 games of the season, the 30-year-old slugger hit a home run in the Nationals’ first victory over the Twins on Friday, and his first in the series on Saturday. After a 4-hit game in the clincher, Washington’s nowhere star in the final two months of his 2022 run seems to be hot and hit like he did late last year and at the WBC.
“He’s on time. He’s on time and he’s ready to hit the fastball,” said Nats’ manager after a 10-4 victory over Target Field in Game 2 against the Twins. Davey Martinez told reporters.
“It’s great to see him when he’s on the move. He’s hitting balls all over the place.”
Jesse Johnson – USA TODAY Sports
Martinez said Sunday he plans to field Meneses more often before the finale in Minnesota.
“We’ll try to get him out there some more,” Martinez said. [Smith] DH. But he swings the bat better. I don’t know if it’s because he went out on the field yesterday, [Meneses] Make no mistake—he’s set up early and been on time this past week, too. We’ll see how he does today, but I definitely want him out and more involved on the field, not just having him DH every day. ”
But while Smith has the balance of being the better defender at first base, Martinez wants to give Meneses more time on the field, and his decisions each game will depend on many factors. .
“We look at a lot of different things, especially with the starting pitchers. Whether or not the team is more of a fly ball team, it hits more fly balls. , I’ll try to get him out there as much as possible,” he explained.
Series winner:
It took seven series to get it, and the Nationals dropped 13 of 20 heading into Sunday afternoon’s series finale against the Twins, but won their first two games at Target Field, Davey Martinez’s club earned its first series win of the season.
“I feel good,” he said after Saturday’s 15-hit, 10-run win. “We’re playing good. Our defense is working well. Our starting pitcher has kept us in the game for the most part. Our bullpen has pitched well. You just have to keep doing it every day.Like we always say here, consistency is the key.Just keep playing.I always say the game needs three constants. We have to defend, we have to run the base right, and these three things that we did well, so we have to keep doing it. yeah.”
They pitched decently and played some good defense, but made a few mistakes on base passes and the offense dried up in the finale against the Twins, eventually losing 3–1.
“We all played hard,” Martinez said after the game.
“When you come out of here when they’re playing good and tomorrow is an off day and you win two out of three, it feels good. [on] Tuesday. “