Washington Nationals drop 2nd-straight to Atlanta Braves, 6th-straight overall, 12-2 in D.C.

Patrick Corbin started the night with a .342/.387/.675 line against the third time through the order this season, and pitched to the back of his baseball card, or BB-ref page in the second game of three with the Atlanta Braves in D.C., giving up two runs through four, and then four in the fifth, the third time through, and the Washington Nationals dropped the sixth straight game by final score of 12-2.

Corbin vs ATL: Patrick Corbin took the mound tonight winless in his last five outings, with a 7.22 ERA and a .293/.336/.586 line against in 28 ²⁄₃ IP over that stretch, which included last Sunday’s six-inning outing against Atlanta in Truist Park, which saw the 32-year-old lefty get knocked around a bit for five hits (two homers) and five runs in six innings in which he threw just 68 pitches, 22 of which came in his final inning of work, when he gave up three of those five runs he allowed.

Going forward in what’s been the second straight tough season for Corbin, he said he just wanted to try to finish strong and go into the winter on a positive note after what’s been a really frustrating season in the third year of his 6-year/$140M deal with the Nationals.

“I can just try to finish this season strong, be ready to go and get ready for next season as well,” he explained, “but I don’t know, I’m just focused on try to end this season — I don’t know, 10 or so starts left — just to try to like I said, finish strong.”

Corbin worked around a two-out walk to Freddie Freeman in the first inning tonight, and after a 25-pitch first, retired the side in order in a seven-pitch second, but Max Fried, the opposing pitcher, singled with one down in the third, for the Braves’ first hit, and scored when Ozzie Albies lined one to center in the next at bat that Victor Robles misread and watched soar over his head for a triple, 1-0 Atlanta, and 2-0 on a two-out RBI single off of Freddie Freeman’s bat.

An eight-pitch, 1-2-3 fourth left Corbin at 64 pitches, but the third time through the order, he struggled again.

Guillermo Heredia singled to start the fifth, and scored one out later when Ozzie Albies hit a full-count change up in the zone out to left for a two-run blast and a 4-1 lead, and a walk to Jorge Soler, single by Freddie Freeman, and two-out, two-run hit by Dansby Swanson later it was 6-1 in the Braves’ favor and Corbin was done for the night...

Patrick Corbin’s Line: 4.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 5 Ks, 1 HR, 97 P, 57 S, 5/4 GO/FO.

Fried vs D.C.: Max Fried, 27, held the Nationals to a run on seven hits in six innings on the hill last weekend in Atlanta, and the Braves’ lefty lined up against Washington again in the 2nd of 3 in D.C.

The outing in Truist Park was Fried’s fourth against the Braves’ NL East rivals in 2021, and it left him with a 5.94 ERA, five walks, 21 Ks, and a .347/.392/.472 line against in 16 ²⁄₃ IP vs the Nationals this year.

Fried retired the first nine batters he faced before Victor Robles bunted against the shift for the Nationals’ first hit, and he scored one out later on an RBI double by Juan Soto, 2-1. Soto took third on a single by Josh Bell in the next at bat, but both of them were stranded at the end of a 17-pitch frame by Braves’ starter.

It was 6-1 in Atlanta’s favor when Fried came back out for the fifth, and struck out two in a 16-pitch, 1-2-3 frame, but Robles singled again to start the sixth, moved up two outs later, when Josh Bell reached on an error, and scored on an RBI single by Yadiel Hernandez, 6-2.

Max Fried’s Line: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 Ks, 86 P, 56 S, 8/2 GO/FO.

Alcides EscOBP: Going into tonight’s game, Alcides Escobar had reached base safely in 13 of his last 14 games, as the Nationals mentioned in their pregame notes, hitting .281 (16 for 57) with four doubles, three HBPs, two walks, and 10 runs scored in those 14 games, and he hit safely in 11 of the 14, with five multi-hit games over that stretch, but he was hitless (0 for 4) tonight in the Nationals’ loss.

Bullpen Action: Javy Guerra took over for Patrick Corbin with two out in the Braves’ fifth and got the final out of the inning from the first batter he faced, 6-1 Atlanta.

Guerra returned to the mound in the sixth and stranded a one-out single in a scoreless frame to keep it a 6-1 game in the Braves’ favor.

A one-out walk to Freddie Freeman in the seventh, a hit-by-pitch on Austin Riley, and a 3-run HR by Dansby Swanson made it a 9-2 game in the Braves’ favor. No. 22 for Swanson.

Ryne Harper took over on the mound for the Nationals with a runner on second and two out in the Braves’ seventh, and got the final out of the inning.

Jefry Rodríguez gave up a run in the top of the eighth, as the Braves added to their lead, 10-2.

Josh Bell and Yadiel Hernández took back-to-back, two-out walks from A.J. Minter in the home-half of the eighth, but they were both stranded when Carter Kieboom K’d swinging to end the threat.

Dansby Swanson hit one out to left off Rodríguez in the top of the ninth, 11-2. Swanson’s 2nd of the game, 23rd this season, and Adam Duvall hit another in the next at bat, 12-2.

Final Score: 12-2 Braves

Nationals now 50-67