Washington Nationals 7-2 over Miami Marlins for third straight win; Patrick Corbin rebound story...

Patrick Corbin bounced back from a rough start last time out with a solid showing today in the nation’s capital, going seven innings on 93 pitches and giving up two runs on four hits in what ended up a 7-2 win for the Washington Nationals in the second of three with Miami in D.C. The win is the Nationals’ third straight, giving them their first three-game win streak this season, and a series win over the Marlins heading into the finale on Sunday.

Corbin vs Miami: Just when it looked like he might be turning a corner following two rough outings (12 H, 4 HR, 7 BB, 16 R, 15 ER in 6 ¹⁄₃ IP) to start the season, Patrick Corbin, who tossed six strong and scoreless innings in start No. 3, took a step back with a four-inning outing in his fourth trip to the mound this season, which saw him give up seven hits, two of them home runs, three walks, and four earned runs in a four-inning, 79-pitch outing in what ended up a 4-0 loss on the road in New York.

“You think about it — I thought about this before,” manager Davey Martinez said of Corbin’s rough start to the 2021 season, “... and I’m not trying to make excuses for him, but he did sit out because of this COVID thing, and he couldn’t really get that much work in.

“I thought we just got to keep building him up and throwing him out there. I though he had some moments where he looked really good today.”

Corbin took the mound this afternoon in start No. 5 of his third season in the Nats’ rotation and tossed four scoreless to start, on 61 pitches, as the Nationals jumped out to a 2-0 lead.

The lefty returned to the mound in the fifth with a 7-0 lead, and gave up a leadoff single, but a 4-3 DP (the third double play behind him in the game), and a grounder back to the mound made it five scoreless on 73 pitches.

Corbin’s shutout bid ended in the top of the sixth, when Jesús Aguilar crushed a first-pitch fastball up in the zone over the plate and sent one out to left field to get the Marlins on the board, down 7-1.

In the top of the seventh, Corbin walked Jon Berti with one down, and gave up a long fly to right by Chad Wallach that got caught up in the wind and sailed to the fence, bouncing off the wall for a double that put two runners in scoring position, before a sac fly made it a 7-2 game in the Nationals’ favor.

Patrick Corbin’s Line: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 Ks, 1 HR, 93 P, 62 S, 10/2 GO/FO.

Campbell vs Washington: Paul Campbell, a Rule 5 Draft pick by the Marlins, who selected him from the Tampa Bay Rays (who’d drafted the righty in the 21st Round in 2017) this past December, made his MLB debut earlier this season, and made four appearances out of the bullpen before he got a chance to start in the big leagues for the first time this afternoon.

He was confident going into the outing.

“I’m extremely confident in my abilities,” Campbell said, as quoted on MLB.com.

“I believe that I belong here,” he added, “and nothing is going to deteriorate that for me whether I give up 10 runs or I have a shutout. I worked extremely hard to get here, and I plan to be here for a long time.”

Campbell got into trouble early in this afternoon’s matchup in D.C., with Josh Harrison and Yadiel Hernández hitting back-to-back, one-out singles in front of Kyle Schwarber, who got hit with a pitch, and Josh Bell, who lined an RBI single to right for a 1-0 lead.

Starlin Castro stepped in next and grounded to third and into a force at home, and Andrew Stevenson K’d swinging to end the threat.

Leadoff and one-out singles in the second gave the Nationals another opportunity in the second, and Yan Gomes, who connected for the first hit, scored on a Josh Harrison fly to center, though Harrison was thrown out trying for second on the play, 2-0.

Andrew Stevenson singled to center to start the Nationals’ fourth, and scored on a home run to left by Yan Gomes, whose second hit of the game and second HR of 2021, put the home team up, 4-0.

Trea Turner singled later in the inning, and stole second base, and with Yadiel Hernández due up with a runner on and two out, the Marlins went to the pen...

Paul Campbell’s Line: 3.2 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 4 Ks, 1 HR, 71 P, 49 S.

Yadiel “Hits” Hernández: Yadiel Hernández’s 3 for 4 night in Friday’s series opener with the Marlins in Nationals Park was the 33-year-old outfielder’s fourth straight multi-hit game.

Hernández is 9 for 15 (.600/.611/.800) over that stretch, with a home run, two walks, and two Ks in 18 plate appearances.

The streak, the Nationals mentioned in the pregame notes for today’s game was, “tied for the longest active streak in Major League Baseball with [the New York Yankees’] Giancarlo Stanton.”

Hernández singled the first time up today, and walked in his third trip to the plate, but he went hitless the rest of the way...

Bullpen Action: Ross Detwiler, the Nationals’ ‘06 1st Round pick, came on for the Marlins with a runner on and two out in the fourth and the Marlins trailing 4-0 and walked back-to-back batters, Yadiel Hernández and Kyle Schwarber, setting the switch-hitting Josh Bell up with an RBI opportunity he cashed in with an opposite field, three-run liner to right field, 7-0.

Righty Adam Cimber retired the Nationals in order in a 16-pitch fifth.

Jordan Holloway took over for the Fish in the bottom of the sixth and set the Nationals down in a 1-2-3 frame.

Starlin Castro hit a ground-rule double into the wind off Holloway with one down in the bottom of the seventh, but he was stranded at third base.

Kyle Finnegan worked around a walk for a scoreless, 16-pitch eighth.

John Curtiss worked around a two-out double by Josh Harrison for a scoreless bottom of the eighth.

Austin Voth walked Magneuris Sierra to start the top of the ninth, but stranded him three outs later, striking out three straight to end it (with high 90s heat). Ballgame.

Final Score: 7-2 Nationals

Nationals now 11-12