Washington Nationals drop 2nd straight to Philadelphia Phillies, 12-6, 4th straight loss overall...

Patrick Corbin had 3-0 and 5-2 leads to work with tonight, but couldn’t keep Philadelphia’s Phillies in check, giving up nine hits, four walks, and six earned runs over 5+ innings in the nation’s capital, in what ended up a 12-6 loss for the Washington Nationals.

Corbin vs PHI: Looking to build on a solid 6 ¹⁄₃-inning start against the Brewers on the road in Milwaukee in which he gave up just three hits and one earned run, Patrick Corbin took a step back in his last outing before tonight’s, giving up four hits, two walks, and six runs in a three-inning start against the Marlins last week in Miami.

“I was looking to build off that one,” Corbin said. “I think location, struggled with it a little bit today, a couple walks there in the first and left the slider up.

“Just too many mistakes, can’t be walking guys, and kind of got myself in a hole there.”

That outing left Corbin with a 7.33 ERA in five starts and 27 IP in August, over which he’d walked six, struck out 28, and given up nine home runs.

Going up against the Phillies tonight, Corbin tossed two scoreless to start, on 24 pitches, then came out for the third with a 1-0 lead, and gave up a leadoff single (by Matt Vierling), and a walk (to Rafael Marchan), before retiring the next three hitters in order in a 15-pitch frame which left at 39 total after 3.0 scoreless.

It was 3-0 when he took the mound in the top of the fourth, but a bunt, against the shift, by Bryce Harper and a 2-run home run to left by Andrew McCutchen on a first-pitch curve and a three-run lead was down to one, 3-2. Ronald Torreyes followed an out later with a double to left field on an 0-2 slider knee-high inside, but Corbin stranded him two outs later.

A two-out double to right by Jean Segura and back-to-back, two-out walks, to Bryce Harper and Andrew McCutchen, loaded the bases in front of Jorge Bonifacio in the Phillies’ half of the fifth, and Corbin fielded a grounder toward third by Bonifacio and tried to get an out at third, but Carter Kieboom was coming in and too far from the bag for a force, 5-3.

Given another inning of work in the sixth, Corbin gave up a single by Vierling and a game-tying, two-run home run to lefty by Rafael Marchan, whose 1st of the season made it a 5-5 game. A walk to Nick Maton ended Corbin’s outing, but the Philly sixth went on for a while...

Patrick Corbin’s Line: 5.0 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 4 Ks, 2 HRs, 93 P, 53 S, 6/4 GO/FO.

Moore vs D.C.: Matt Moore earned a win with four innings of work on the mound against the Nationals back on August 4th, giving up three hits, one a home run, and two runs total, in a 9-5 win for the Phillies.

In three starts that followed before he took on the Nats again tonight, the left-hander had a 3.77 ERA, eight walks, 14 Ks, and a .200/.310/.360 line against in 14 ¹⁄₃ IP over that stretch.

Moore worked around two walks in a 22-pitch first, but gave up a one-out single to right by Luis García in the second, issued a third free pass (this one to Adrián Sanchez), and the first run of the game on an RBI double to center field by Lane Thomas, who hit his 6th two-base hit this year on a 2-2 changeup down and in from the Philly left, 1-0.

Back-to-back doubles by Josh Bell (to right field) and Ryan Zimmerman (to left field), added to the Nats’ lead in the bottom of the third, 2-0, and Zimmerman scored from third base on a two-out double to right off of Luis García’s bat, 3-0.

It was 3-2 after three and a half in D.C., when Moore returned to the mound, and issued a leadoff walk to Lane Thomas, and Carter Kieboom stepped in next and hit a 2-0 changeup up in the zone out to left field for a two-run blast and a 5-2 lead. Kieboom’s second in two games and sixth overall in 2021.

Matt Moore’s Line: 3.1 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 5 BB, 2 Ks, 1 HR, 82 P, 38 S, 1/2 GO/FO.

Kie-BOOM!: Carter Kieboom had a bunch of hard-hit balls, but not much to show for it on the road trip to Milwaukee, Miami, and New York, going 4 for 32 (.125 AVG) with a double, home run, five walks, and 12 Ks in nine games, but he went 2 for 4 with a home run in the first of three with the Phillies on Monday, and homered again in the second of three with Philly in D.C. tonight. That’s five homers on the month for the 23-year-old infielder.

Bullpen Action: Another lefty, Bailey Falter took over for the Phillies with the Nationals up 5-2 in the fourth, and got out of the inning without further damage.

Back on the mound in the bottom of the fifth, in a two-run game, Falter retired the Nationals in order to keep it at 5-3 in the home team’s favor.

Andres Machado took over for the Nationals in a 5-5 game in the sixth, after Corbin gave up a single, 2-run HR, and a walk in the top of the inning. A single by Freddy Galvis and hit-by-pitch on Jean Segura loaded the bases in front of Bryce Harper, who hit a single to center to drive in two, but got thrown out trying for second base, 7-5, and 8-5 on an RBI single to left by Andrew McCutchen, and 9-5 on a single by Odubel Herrera. Wheels officially off. Mason Thompson came on to finish up the top of the sixth.

Sam Clay struck out two in a 1-2-3 top of the seventh. Still 9-5 Phillies.

Keibert Ruiz singled off José Alvarado to lead off the bottom of the seventh, but Alvarado struck Luis García out and got an inning-ending double play from Adrián Sanchez.

Sam Clay got the first out of the eighth, then Kyle McGowin came on and got the second and third outs.

Wander Suero, who returned to the majors today after a stint at Triple-A trying to get sorted out, returned to the mound in Nationals Park in the ninth and gave up a leadoff double off of Matt Vierling’s bat, and a one-out, two-run home run by Brad Miller, 11-5, and 12-5 on a wild pitch with the bases loaded later in the inning.

Juan Soto singled and scored a run in the Nationals’ ninth, 12-6. That’s how it ended.

Final Score: 12-6 Phillies

Nationals now 55-76