Happy Birthday, Corbin:
Patrick Corbin celebrated his 35th birthday on Friday night with his best start of the season, allowing just three hits and one run over six innings and 104 pitches.
Corbin held the Cincinnati Reds in the series and “second half” opener at Nationals Park, striking out six and walking no batters in Washington’s 8–5 victory. Corbin struck out 16 times and called 12 strikeouts in the game.
“Corbin was good. Corbin was really good,” the Nationals captain said. Davey Martinez said after the win. “I pitched really well and that’s what we needed after four days of rest,” he said during the game in the nation’s capital.
A two-out single and stolen base by Stuart Fairchild and an RBI single by Jonathan India gave the visiting Reds an early lead, but those were the only runs Corbin allowed in six innings. The home team scored four runs in the fourth and three in the fifth to take a 7-1 lead, but added one in the seventh and gave up four in the ninth to make it 8-5.
The Nationals’ first two runs came on a single by James Wood through the right fielder, bringing in Jesse Winker (one walk) and Juan Yepes (single) to extend their lead. Then, Cavert Lewis hit a two-run homer to make it 4-1, and Yepes (He began the night on a 10-game hitting streak, going 14-for-37 (.378 batting average) with six doubles, three RBI, six walks and six runs scored.), and hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning (2 hits in 4 at-bats, 2 runs, 3 RBIs).
“Our offense came out strong,” Martinez told reporters after the game. “We were patient. We hit some big home runs. And Woody had a great hit with two RBIs. So we played well.”
Bad News:
Prior to last night’s game, the Nationals made the announcement officially, with both pitcher Josiah Gray and manager Davey Martinez announcing that the 26-year-old starting pitcher will undergo elbow surgery.
“He’s going to have surgery,” Martinez told reporters during his pregame press conference at Nationals Park. “He has a mild tear in his biceps.”
“At this point he’s going to have surgery, we don’t know if he’ll be in a brace or have full surgery. [Tommy John surgery]”… Only time will tell once they go in and examine him and see how bad the laceration is. He’ll be out for a while.”
Gray was placed on the disabled list in April with a right elbow/forearm flexor injury, but made four rehab appearances in the minor leagues and noticed something was wrong during his fifth appearance. A subsequent MRI revealed a tear.
“I went to see the doctor. [Keith] “During the All-Star break, Meister discovered he had a small partial tear in his UCL,” Gray explained. Quote from MASN’s Bobby Blanco.
“So I’ve decided to opt for elbow surgery. Obviously, that means I’m done for the year. There’s still a long way to go, but that’s what the doctors have said, I’ve heard their advice and I’m going to get going soon.”
Photo: Randy Litzinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
“He didn’t feel anything until his last rehab appearance,” Martinez said.
“He just said it was like he couldn’t move his arm, so we let him rest. After talking with him, he said he wanted to rest a bit before going back to the doctor, and after the swelling went down, they determined there was a minor tear. From there it was up to him what he wanted to do and how he wanted to handle it. Between him and the doctor, he chose to have surgery.”
Martinez spoke with the starting pitcher after he received the news, and the two were on good terms in what the Nationals manager described as an “emotional graduation.”
“It was tough,” he admitted. “He got emotional, I got emotional. You know, I love the kid, like I do with all the other guys, but he’s special because he cares so much about this organization, this team, and he wanted to go out and compete and help win. But I told him, ‘Hey, there was a lot more before you. You’re not the end. You’re going to get through this and be a better, stronger person and player.'”
