Washington Nationals news & notes: Nats swept by Rays with 7-2 loss in finale; next stop Colorado…

FRONT PAGE: Corbin isn’t quite there

Patrick Corbin threw 85 pitches (strike is 48.

It wasn’t what the southpaw or his manager wanted as Corbin is about to bounce back after three straight rough seasons in Washington’s rotation.

“He has to hit the strike zone,” Nationals skipper Davey Martinez said after last week’s opener. “We talked about it, he did a good job on it in the spring. He fell behind.

“He pitched so many pitches in three innings that he went 3-2, 3-2 and had an unfortunate break on a few hits he hit early on, but he still attacked the strike zone. There must be.

Martinez said Corbin’s difference between a relatively positive game this spring and a lackluster start to the season was his ability to throw strikes.

“He just fell behind. He just fell behind,” Martinez repeated.

“When he’s leading, he’s a completely different guy. So you have to get him ahead and finish him. We talk a lot about 3-4 pitches or less, but that’s him.” ”

Corbyn was on the same page with his manager when he spoke about battling some relatively weak hits and an increase in pitch count that hurt him.

“You try to get the weak touch,” Corbin said. Words by Mark Zuckerman of MASN.

“Sometimes they hit people with it, sometimes they don’t. And I think getting in a better count and trying to finish the players at least helped keep the pitch count down. .”

Corbin’s start No. 2 started with a scoreless first and avoided a one-out hit, but Tampa Bay put a run on the board in the second and started the top of the inning with back-to-back singles. , a bases-loading one-out hit, and a sack fly gave the Rays a 1–0 lead after 1.5. Corbin was up to 30 balls in total after two innings of practice.

When Corbin took the mound in the third, he tied the game at 1-1 and gave up a leadoff single to Yandy Diaz on a 0-1 sinker. Hitting left inside-out height, he hit a 396-foot, two-run homer and a 3-1 raise.

It was a 3-on-2 game four games later, and Corbin came out on the fourth pitch in a seven-pitch, 1-on-2-on-3, and came back on the fifth to retire the side in turn again, and after the second pitch, Gave 9 straight outs. Franco home run in the 3rd inning.

Corbin added another two outs to the retired hitter’s streak, but Harold Ramirez went down with two outs to the 1-1 slider, one just over the center wall for his first solo shot of the season. , leading to a two-raise lead in the 4th-6th innings.

Victor Robles lost a two-out fly to center field in the sun after two at-bats, and an RBI double by Jose Siri scored another run that should have been third, a 5-2 raise, 6-2. it was done.

Patrick Corbin’s line: 6.0 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 3 Ks, 2 HR, 92 P, 63 S, 5/3 GO/FO.

Corbin threw 48% slider on outings, increased from 35% on openers, reduced 39% sinkers from 51%, mixed 10% changeup and 3% four seamers, 11 swing strikes , 10 on the slider, and 14 call strikes, 9 on his sinker.

“He was doing well,” Martinez said of Corbin’s 11-game winning streak in the first.

“A big part of it is keeping everything down. The slider was good, the changeup was good, the fastball was down, in, out, but most of the time it was all down in the zone.

“A missed ball in the sun caused problems. When you look at it, the game was pretty good up to that point, but then it got out of hand.”

Thaddeus Ward allowed a hit, two walks, and a run on a 7-2 raise in the seventh.

point!!!:

In his first start of the season after being called up in the aftermath of Corey Dickerson’s injury, Stone Garrett walked in his first at-bat and took a free pass with two outs to extend the inning off Victor Robles. Rays left-hander Shane McClanahan lined up his 1-2 changeup into the left-center gap for an RBI double (1). 1-1.

The Rays went 3-1 for fourth, Joey Meneses doubled to center field, Keibert-Lewis hit to move to third, Michael Chavis’ RBI single made it 3-2, and Stone Garrett hit 0-. Did. With two fastballs up in the zone, the bases were loaded without getting on base.

Victor Robles sent a fly to right field and failed to get a runner from third base, and CJ Abrams and Lane Thomas tripled, but it was still a 3-2 raise.

Manager Davey Martinez called the sequence a crucial one after the Nationals lost 7-2 in the end.

“We had a chance to blow the game right there,” Martinez said. “Come back, bases loaded, no outs, and we couldn’t score. We need to start driving on the run.”

What did he see in those ABs?

“Just big, you know… Vic got big,” he explained. “3-1, he got bigger and then we just [weren’t] Aggressive.

“Lane hits his fastball 0-0. He’s just a fastball hitter, which means he has to go offensive in those situations and swing with a strike.”

BACK PAGE – Finnegan again:

After Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan took a one-run lead and gave up three homers and five total runs in the second rough, manager Davey Martinez said, “Some stuff, watch some video. , we’ll see if he’s doing something different.” Three appearances so far this season.

“He’s not in a good place right now,” Martinez said.

“He threw some close pitches,” the skipper told reporters after his club bounced back from an early deficit on Tuesday, losing the game 6-5 to ninth place. Like I said, you have a good hitter, he was just missing. Everything he did was just a mistake, too many balls on the plate.

Finnegan struggled.

“We did what we needed to do to win, but we fell short tonight,” Finnegan said. Words by Mark Zuckerman of MASN After losing.

“That hurts the most. You want to win the game. I have to get better.”

Finnegan threw only 14 of 24 pitches for strikes in the game.

“He wasn’t happy, to be honest,” Martinez said when asked about the closer’s reaction. “He was mad. That’s a conversation I have to have with him tomorrow.

Photo by Scott Tetch/Getty Images

“He has to get back on his feet. He’s a big part of our bullpen and we’re going to get him right.”

The sixth-year skipper didn’t think about pulling Finnegan earlier than he thought before relying on Hobie Harris to finish the top of the inning.

“No, I’m not going to pull him. He’s close to us. And we have to correct him, right?” Martinez asked rhetorically.

“I was going to give him 25 balls and get out of there. It’s just that they were on the whole thing.”

“They were in everything I threw tonight,” Finnegan indirectly agreed.

Luis Garcia vs LHP:

In the second and third games of this week’s three-game series at Nationals Park, the Rays’ left-handed starter is back-to-back, with Knott skipper Davey Martinez taking on right-handed swing utility man Michael Chavis. and second in a row. With 23-year-old Luis Garcia heading into his 4th season in the big leagues, the question arose as to whether there was something wrong with the everyday second baseman keeping him out of the lineup.

no. Just matchup considerations.

In the first four seasons of his major league career, Garcia has a .239/.252/.333 line against lefties (vs. .269/.298/.418 carrier lines vs. RHP), and only two of his 15 HRs in his southpaw career to date.

Rays left-hander Shane McClanahan began his big league career by starting 54 games in three seasons, but had a reverse split (.258/.305/.368 vs. LHB, .211.266.342 vs. RHB), However, Martinez continued right-handed swing Chavis at second base.

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“It’s been a string of left-handed pitchers,” Martinez said before yesterday’s game, which saw Garcia out of the starting lineup for the second time in a row. “I want to pick my spot [García]He swung the bat, came in yesterday, pinch-hit, hit the ball well, but today’s opponent is tough. He is strict with lefties. [CJ] abrams [a left-handed hitter as well] He’s a little bit better staying there on the slider, so he’ll play short today. [Chavis] He swung the bat well yesterday, so I’d like to get him back and give him a few more days. But Lewis will be back there. ”

At one point, the manager admitted to allowing Garcia to test himself against some of the tougher lefties in the league, but Martinez said he had to at this point in the new season. He said he didn’t feel like he couldn’t.

“That day will come,” he said. “It’s early anyway. I want to keep all these guys involved and get them there.” [Garrett] Got a few at bats against this guy at DH today.

“but [García] He definitely does his part against left-handed pitchers. ”