Washington Nationals news & notes: Nats shut out in second-straight loss to White Sox…

Corbin in Chicago:

“It was amazing,” Davey Martinez told reporters after the 5-1 win. boston red sox In the game at Fenway Park, starting pitcher Patrick Corbin scored three runs in the beginning, added one run in the end, and took the lead with a power pitch of 5 innings, giving up 7 hits and 1 run.

“I always say, if you pop out and jump to get an early lead, the pitchers can relax a little bit,” the manager explained. “As we did that, he was able to settle down a little bit. He gave us what we needed. Then the bullpen came in and he shut it down.”

Corbin threw 86 pitches (He had 23 hits in five long innings that started with consecutive hits, but ended with both runners stranded.), he had 54 strikes and only 9 swings, but he recorded 15 called strikes in this game, which was his first point (A completely pointless pitcher) Won in his 8th start. (ERA 5.91, FIP 4.12, BB/9 3.38, K/9 6.12, vs. .341/.390/.540 line)).

“We got into a good rhythm as the game went on,” Corbin said. Quoted by MASN’s Bobby Blanco, catcher Keibert Ruiz also praises him. “I think I was able to use all types of pitches well. Throwing it in, throwing it away, changing the speed. In the final inning, I got two infield hits there and was in a difficult situation, but after that I showed good pitching. It was really good to get through five players and keep the lead. We added a few points late and put the game out of reach.”

Following a strong start in yesterday’s series finale, white socks On Chicago’s South Side, Corbin once again put together a solid game, but this time there was no run-up as the Nationals, who were shut out in the nightcap of Tuesday’s twinbill, sat empty again. In the end, we lost 2-0.

Corbin pitched two scoreless innings and made the start at Guaranteed Rate Field, but with one runner on base and one out (after a leadoff walk and forced second base), Tommy Pham hit an RBI to left field. He hit a double, but it was a misplay when the ball bounced off Ildemaro Vargas. It went over the foul area wall and over the outfielder’s glove, making it 1-0.

After avoiding the Sox’s hitting streak that began in the fourth, Corbin stranded one runner in the sixth (helped (first?) by an odd-numbered six-unassisted double play in which Nasim Nunez caught a liner to short and jogged across) and, after the runner couldn’t get back, he tagged out on first base in the field and Nats first baseman Joey Meneses abandoned his post.

With two outs in the 6th inning, Vargas missed a line drive to left, the Nationals went to the bullpen at that point, Corbin, the runner left on base, reversed and scored, and Derek Law was on the mound for the visiting team. The score was 2-0. .

Corbin once again had 19 called strikes and produced nine ground outs from the 23 batters he faced, but he only had five strikeouts overall, another solid pitch. showed.

“I felt good throughout the day,” Corbin said after his outing. “Going ahead of everyone, making some pitches, getting a lot of ground balls today, using my changeup, but yeah, just trying to stay in the game there.”

“Patrick pitched really well again. We don’t get to hit those big balls,” the manager said.

In Tuesday’s 4-0 loss, the Nationals were 8-0 with runners in scoring position, with 7 bases left, but in their second straight shutout loss, they were 9-0 with RISP and 9 bases left. became.

“We didn’t have any timely hits. The bases were loaded and we had a chance to score, but we just didn’t get any timely hits,” Martinez added.

“We couldn’t score today,” Corbin told reporters. “It was just a tough game. [The White Sox] I pitched well today, so try to get through this series and enjoy tomorrow’s off day. If they do, it will be a tough game against Philadelphia. ”

Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images

Please clean:

After Tuesday’s doubleheader against the White Sox in Chicago, manager Davey Martinez talked about the three errors his team made in the first game of the twin bill, saying some of the mistakes on the field in recent weeks have come as a surprise to him. he told reporters. .

That year, the Nationals’ 27 blunders as a team after Tuesday’s game tied for fifth in the majors with five other teams, but the Washington Post reported that they had 27 fumbles as a team at Guaranteed Rate Field. As reporter Andrew Golden pointed out, the majority of the errors occurred in the past few weeks.

Martinez’s thoughts on recent mistakes and misplays on the field (Not to mention the recent blunders within the base.)?

“It was very unexpected, because we’ve been playing really well,” he said after playing the Sox in the first two of three games in Chicago. “We have young kids, right? Things are going to happen, so we just have to keep working on them and keep praising them as they’re playing well. You have to forget that.”

“Defensively we have to step up,” GM and Director of Baseball Operations Mike Rizzo said during his weekly visit to Sports Junkies in Audacy on 106.7 the FAN.

“We’ve been making too many mistakes lately. In our first month of being an elite defensive team, we’ve made too many mistakes,” Rizzo told Junkies.

“So, that’s something we’re aware of and we’re making our players aware of that as well. As the season goes on, fatigue builds up and you have to be even more focused and focused on the routine ball of each pitch. .”

Rizzo admits it can be tiring to stay focused and focused on every pitch, but that’s part of the game at this level.

“You should be mentally and physically tired after the game,” he said. “Because every pitch…you have to field 140 to 150 pitches, you have to work on every pitch, and it’s tiring and exhausting. Sometimes when you miss that pitch, that ball hits you. And that’s where your errors occur, and even physical errors are based on concentration and are more mental than physical.

“That’s what young infielders like.” [Trey] Lipscomb needs to understand that. [CJ] Abrams and [Luis] Garcia. And Ricky Gutierrez and Miguel Cairo are always working with them every day.

“I took the long infield in the doubleheader yesterday, and I’m sure I’ll take it in Philadelphia as well.”