Washington Nationals drop 4th of 5 with the Baltimore Orioles so far in 2020; 7-3 final

Patrick Corbin wasn’t sharp. He battled through a five-inning, 94-pitch outing, but the left-hander gave up eight hits and five earned runs in what ended up a 7-3 win for Baltimore’s Orioles in Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Juan Soto hit his sixth home run of the season, and his fifth on the current road trip.

Trea Turner hit one out as well, but the Orioles jumped on the Nationals early and cruised to their fourth win in five games with their regional rivals this season.

Rubber match of the current series tomorrow at 1:05 PM ET (weather permitting)...

Corbin vs O’s: Patrick Corbin’s fourth start of the season tonight was his first against a non-NY team, after he faced the Yankees and Mets (twice) in his previous three outings in the second year of his 6-year/$140M deal with the Nationals.

In 18 IP before facing the Orioles in Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the southpaw surrendered 15 hits and five runs (2.50 ERA) in three starts, with three walks, 20 Ks, and a .217/.250/.333 line against.

Corbin fell behind early in start No. 4, giving up a one-out walk and a double that put two runners in scoring position for former Nationals’ catcher Pedro Severino, who drove them both in, lining the second double of the inning to left to put the O’s up 2-0 after one.

Two more scored in the second with Bryan Holaday singling and coming around on a line drive to right by Andrew Velazquez that bounced around long enough in the corner to let Velazquez take third, before he scored on a sac fly by Hanser Alberto, 4-0.

It was 4-2 in the O’s favor when Corbin returned to the mound in the fourth and gave up a solo shot to right by Rio Ruiz, 5-2, and the lefty came back out in the sixth and stranded a leadoff single in what would be his lst inning of work...

Patrick Corbin’s Line: 5.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 Ks, 1 HR, 94 P, 61 S, 6/2 GO/FO.

W-o-j-c-i-e-c-h-o-w-s-k-i [DING!]: Pitching on short rest, after throwing in a doubleheader four days earlier, Orioles’ starter Asher Wojciechowski threw 65 pitches in 3 ²⁄₃ IP Sunday afternoon in the nation’s capital last week, giving up three hits and two walks in a scoreless appearances against Baltimore’s regional rivals.

“I could have gone longer, but I definitely was feeling some fatigue in that fourth inning and I know that the coaches could tell that at that point I was starting to get a little fatigued, but I liked the way I felt, I liked the way I completed,” Wojciechowski said.

That outing left the right-hander with a 3.95 ERA, five walks, 15 Ks, and a .224/.298/.469 line against in three starts and 13 ²⁄₃ IP overall.

Start No. 4 began with three scoreless on an efficient 41 pitches as the Orioles jumped out to a 4-0 lead on the Nationals tonight, but Juan Soto cut the lead in half when he sent a 2-0 curve out to left-center field for a two-run blast that made it a 4-2 game. Soto’s 6th.

Rio Ruiz homered to put the Orioles up 5-2 after four, and Wojciechowski came back out with an 18-pitch, 1-2-3 fifth, but Trea Turner homered to start the sixth and ended the O’s starter’s night, 5-3.

Asher Wojciechowski’s Line: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 Ks, 2 HRs, 78 P, 51 S, 6/1 GO/FO.

Soto bats 3rd: In nine games this season before tonight, Juan Soto, who started the second of three with the Orioles in OPACY with a .412/.459/.941 line, three doubles, and five homers early this season, had hit fourth in Davey Martinez’s lineup, but the Nationals’ skipper hit him third tonight after a 2 for 5 game for the 21-year-old outfielder in the series opener.

“I mixed it up a little bit today,” Martinez said when he spoke to reporters this afternoon.

“Just Howie [Kendrick] is not in the lineup, so we just basically pushed everybody up. And we’ll see how it works out.

“With Howie in the lineup we might keep Juan fourth, but we’ll see how this works out today. I kind of like it, we’ll see how things work out.”

Kendrick is fine though. He’s fine. “He just needs a day,” Martinez said. “He’s been playing quite a bit so just giving him a day.”

Soto didn’t seem to mind. He walked the first time up, but was stranded, then hit a 2-0 curve from Orioles’ starter Asher Wojciechowski out to left-center for a two-run homer which made it a 4-2 game after his second plate appearance.

Soto finished the night 1 for 3 with the home run and a walk.

BULLPEN ACTION: Tanner Scott took over on the mound for the Orioles in the top of the sixth, with a two-run lead, and got three quick outs to keep it a two-run game, 5-3 O’s.

Javy Guerra gave up a leadoff walk but got two outs before he was replaced on the mound by Kyle Finnegan. Andrew Velazquez, who grounded into a force at second for the second out of the frame, stole second base and took third on a throwing error by Yan Gomes, then came in on an RBI double by Hanser Alberto, 6-3 O’s.

Scott got two outs in the top of the seventh, as the rain picked up in OPACY, and Mychal Givens got the final out of the inning.

Dakota Bacus came out for his second big league appearance and he was 8 for 8 batters faced and retired before a two-out single by Pat Valaika ended that streak. A called third strike on Rio Ruiz gave the Nationals’ reliever 3.0 scoreless to start his big league career.

Givens came out for another inning of work in the eighth and gave up a two-out single by Trea Turner (3 for 4, HR).

Cole Sulser came on for the O’s with Adam Eaton due up, and got a fly to center for out No. 3. Still 6-3 Orioles.

Wander Suero gave up back-to-back-to-back, two-out singles and a run, 7-3 Orioles.

Sulser returned to the mound for the O’s in the ninth and retired the side in order to end it.

Final Score: 7-3 Orioles

Nationals now 7-11