Washington Nationals news & notes: Nats wrap up good road trip with 7-0 loss to Blue Jays in Toronto…

Corbin vs. Jays:

“He’s been really, really good,” Davey Martinez said last week of the consistent appearances Patrick Corbin has achieved so far in 2023. new york yankeesThe line-up with 7 hits (2 of them were home runs), recorded 3 walks and 3 RBIs in the starting lineup, and in 26 starting games and 149 games, he had an ERA of 4.70, FIP of 5.23, walks of 47, 104Ks, and a batting average of .289/.341/.469. ¹⁄₃ IP of the year.

“Forget his numbers and ERA and all that stuff,” Martinez told reporters.

“He gets the ball every five days and it’s competitive. He’s pitched six strong innings for us and that’s what I love about him and he’s throwing a really good ball. ”

The 2018-19 season remains to be seen, but Corbin remains a consistent performer in the young Nationals’ rotation, which will help ease their young arms into a 162-game season and the pain of getting on the mound. Every 5 days was important to.

Corbin wasn’t particularly sharp, but he didn’t get hit as hard in the series finale Wednesday afternoon in Toronto, Calif., throwing 96 pitches and striking 60 pitches, with 10 hits in five innings. , allowing 1 walk and 6 earned runs. .

He had just six whiff strikes on the day, but had 18 cold strikes, 13 of which were sinkers, but the offense gets little from Blue Jays right-hander Chris Basitt. I couldn’t do it, and I held the visiting team to a clean sheet. In the eighth inning at Rodgers Center, he walked and got three, leading 2-0 after the first and 4-0 after the fourth, before the home team got two runs in the sixth and another in the seventh. Added 1 point. 0.

“I thought he pitched a decent pitch, but he just hit,” Martinez said after the loss.

“They are [did what we do], trying to stay in the middle of the field, they got some base hits, big base hits. “

“Some of the pitches were so well-placed,” Corbyn said at the post-match scrum, “I think I just found a hole. I fell there. A few ground balls were just out of reach.” said. [CJ] Abrams is there, but I think it was just one day when they seemed to find a spot when they put it in play.

“They hit some balls hard.

The club dropped 2-of-3 against the Jays in the finale, but manager Davey Martinez scored 2-of-3 against the Yankees in New York before the game to finish the trip 5-4. said he was satisfied. 2 out of 3 from the Miami Marlins.

“The players are engaged,” Martinez said heading into the final in Toronto. “What I like is that they are hilarious and play for each other.

“They are starting to understand how to rebound and get back on track and work hard every day and keep that energy.

Photo Credit: Vaughan Ridley/Getty Images

“It was a really good trip. I want to make it a wonderful trip today.”

After Wednesday afternoon’s loss, he remained optimistic and positive about the trip.

“We have to be positive after the trip,” he said after the game. “I kind of forgot about this one. We’re playing well. We’re playing well. Today was just one of those days when I ran into Buzzsaw.

“I have to come back tomorrow and try to get my winning streak back.”

“Look, we had a good road trip. We have to do our best to win 1-0.”

Corbyn said he was looking forward to returning to the capital with his teammates.

“This is kind of a long, long journey for us,” Southpaw said. It’s clear that we loved winning this series today. it just didn’t happen. We are still playing good baseball. We have to forget about this and move on. “

Joey RBI:

Joey Meneses’ 1-for-4 against the Blue Jays on Tuesday led the Nationals slugger to 30-for-105 (.286/.353/.448) in 26 games last month with eight doubles and three homers.

Meneses had three homers in 116 at-bats in August, but only six in 100 (24G) in July and two in 326 (75G) in the first three months of the season.

Meneses dominated the league last season with 13 HRs and 240 PAs in 56 games since coming on after Juan Soto’s trade to San Diego, but has made just 11 appearances and 542 PAs in 125 games this year. .

Photo Credit: Cole Burston/Getty Images

31-year-old slugger and Nationals skipper Davey Martinez left runners in scoring position after Monday night’s loss to Toronto, accepting a role as run producer for the club in 2023 rather than a home run hitter. (RBI 143 RBI 52, PA153 RBI .364 / RBI .392 / RBI .490), as of Wednesday morning RBI is club top (76 RBI).

“The best thing about Joey is he stays in the middle of the field, right?” the manager told reporters. “He had a run down the middle, a run over there, two big RBIs, but he did a great job. We talked a lot about wanting to hit, but I said to him and I said, “Hey, look.” Running is very important. A home run is coming,’ they said, but more than that, he’s become the RBI-scoring man for us. “

Photo Credit: Mark Brinch/Getty Images

Meneses did well off the runners, adding that although he didn’t have the hitting power of the 30-year-old rookie, he contributed to the club.

“I think now he understands that run production is important,” Martinez said.

“And he says, ‘Hey, I’m going to run as hard as I can.'”

“I’m more frustrated than anything when he doesn’t do it. So when we put players in scoring position, he knows he has work to do there, and He did it really well.”

Also:

2016 first-round pick Carter Keyboom’s first RBI for the team since 2021 and the face of Davey Martinez when asked about the success of the 25-year-old infielder at bat after being called. We joked on Twitter about the big smiles. Uploaded earlier this month.

Martinez isn’t the only one happy to see Keyboom enjoying early success in their recent big-league opportunities.

GM Mike Rizzo told 106.7 fans on DC’s Sports Junkies On Wednesday morning, ahead of Keyboom’s 1-4 game in the Nationals’ 7-0 loss to the Blue Jays, he said all the effort Keyboom has put into recovering from Tommy John surgery is coming. I am happy to be rewarded with success since day one. Back up.

“When Tommy John has surgery, he’s going to spend a year in West Palm Beach, mostly alone, or with a few guys, and he’s going to focus on rehab after that surgery. I’ve fallen in love with a lot of other guys who’ve been “all over the body,” Lizzo explained.

Photo Credit: Cole Burston/Getty Images

“While waiting for Tommy John to activate, he became stronger and more flexible. I tried very hard to get it back to the way it was.”

“And I think his swing strength and bat speed and things like that are evidence of his improvement since the surgery.”

Keyboom also seems to play more confidently, which is one of the effects of his success with a small sample size.

“Whenever you’re feeling good, you’re feeling good about yourself and everything is going to be good, and you walk into this situation, he hasn’t played in the major leagues in two years, and you’re out there. When you step in, you’re in the league.” A really young, really good, really energetic team that seems to have ripples through you and you see it too. I think that there. I think they all have a little bit of energy and an impetus to take a step, and I think Carter is no exception. He knows a lot of these players and has been with them for a long time, but he’s still a 25-year-old kid who hasn’t really had a long-term opportunity in the big leagues, so I think he’s going to have a lot of fun. It’s good to see him get off to a quick start and hopefully he’ll get through the rest of the season and come into spring training with the opportunity and prospects to become a regular player for us. right. “