Washington Nationals’ 8-1 win over Pittsburgh Pirates gives them three straight overall...

Patrick Corbin tossed a scoreless first against the Pittsburgh Pirates, then came back out for the second with a 5-0 lead and cruised through six scoreless before he finally gave up a run in the seventh, in what was a 6-1 game at that point.

Corbin ended up going 8 ¹⁄₃ with just one run allowed.

Yan Gomes hit a big grand slam for the Nationals in the home-half of the first inning, and Washington won their third straight overall, 8-1 final.

Corbin vs PIT: Patrick Corbin gave up three hits, four walks, and three runs in five innings of work last time out before tonight, in what ended up a 9-7 win over the Rays in Tampa Bay in which he received no decision. It was the fifth straight outing in which he’d given up 3+ and it left him with a 6.21 ERA overall on the year after 12 starts and 62 ¹⁄₃ IP, over which the lefty had walked 26, struck out 28, and given up 12 home runs, with opposing hitters putting up a .286/.357/.492 line against him.

Corbin tossed a scoreless, 12-pitch first, working around a walk, then came back out for the top of the second inning with a 5-0 lead, and stranded two runners after giving up back-to-back, two-out singles in a 15-pitch frame, and a 10-pitch, 1-2-3 third left him at 37 total after three scoreless.

A 15-pitch fourth pushed Corbin up to 52 pitches, as he worked around a leadoff single, and he retired the Pirates in order in a 10-pitch fifth, and stranded a two-out single in an 11-pitch sixth, leaving him at 73 total after six scoreless, with a 6-0 lead.

Corbin came back out for the seventh and gave up a leadoff single by Gregory Polanco and a two-out, run-scoring double on a fly to center field by Phillip Evans that Victor Robles almost got to with a nice diving attempt, but couldn’t quite catch, 6-1 Nationals. Corbin got through the seventh at just 88 pitches overall.

The lefty returned to the mound in the eighth and worked around an error in an 11-pitch top of the inning that left him at 99 overall.

Corbin came back out for the ninth, and gave up a one-out single to left, on his 104th pitch, and another hit on pitch No. 110, before the Nationals went to the pen...

Patrick Corbin’s Line: 8.1 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 Ks, 110 P, 72 S, 9/6 GO/FO.

Anderson vs D.C.: Pirates’ lefty Tyler Anderson, 31, took the mound tonight winless in his last five outings, with a 6.84 ERA, seven walks, 24 Ks, and a .302/.342/.623 line against in that stretch, over which he gave up nine of his 12 home runs allowed this season.

In seven starts prior the current winless streak, the southpaw posted a 3.05 ERA, 12 walks, and 37 Ks in 41 ¹⁄₃ IP, giving up just three home runs in those outings, and holding hitters to a combined .209/.264/.311 line.

Tonight in the nation’s capital, Anderson was facing a Nationals’ roster that has hit lefties in the first few months of the season, with a .259/.342/.411 line against LHPs on the year, good for 6th/3rd/14th across the line among major league teams.

Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and Juan Soto hit back-to-back-to-back singles off the Pirates’ southpaw to start the bottom of the first, loading the bases with no one out, and a one-out single to right field by Josh Harrison (after Ryan Zimmerman K’d swinging) drove Schwarber in and gave the Nationals a 1-0 lead in the first. Yan Gomes stepped in next, fell behind, 0-2, and crushed a 93 MPH 1-2 fastball, hitting a grand slam to left for a 5-0 lead. No. 6 of the ‘21 season for Gomes.

Victor Robles walked to start the Nationals’ half of the fourth, moved up on a sac bunt by Patrick Corbin, and scored on a two-out triple to right by Trea Turner, 6-0.

Anderson held it there through six, and finished the night with 102 pitches overall...

Tyler Anderson’s Line: 6.0 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 4 Ks, 1 HR, 102 P, 72 S, 6/3 GO/FO.

Ride the Schwarber Leadoff Train: A reporter asked before tonight’s game, and before the lineup was announced, if there was anything interesting we should know about how Davey Martinez was lining things up in the second of three with the Pirates. Martinez said he was, at that point, working on the lineup, but would release it soon, so the reporter followed up and asked the real question, “Is Schwarber leading off?”

“It’s funny with that,” Martinez said, “I was just going to just say, ‘Do you want to know if Kyle is hitting leadoff?’ Yes, Kyle is hitting leadoff.”

Schwarber started the evening is 5 for 13 (.385 AVG) with four home runs, seven RBIs, two walks, and four runs scored over his last four games, and he started the Nationals’ five-run first with a single to right, then scored the first run of the game on a Josh Harrison hit. He’s quite the spark, apparently.

Bullpen Action: Duane Underwood, Jr. took over for the Pirates in the bottom of the 7th, and worked around a Trea Turner single for a scoreless, 16-pitch frame.

Underwood, Jr. returned to the mound in the bottom of the eighth and gave up two runs with Victor Robles doubling one in and scoring on a sac fly by Kyle Schwarber, 8-1.

With two on and one out in the ninth, Justin Miller came out of the bullpen and got the final two outs. Ballgame.

Final Score: 8-1 Nationals

Nationals now 29-35