Washington Nationals drop 5-2 decision to Colorado Rockies: Sloppy play dooms Nats & Patrick Corbin...

Patrick Corbin in Coors Field:

In what was arguably his best start of the five he’d made this season, Patrick Corbin held the Miami Marlins to four hits, two walks, and three runs (2 ER) over six innings in Nationals Park, in what ended up a 4-3 loss for Washington.

“I thought he threw the ball really well today,” manager Davey Martinez told reporters after the loss to the Fish.

“If he can repeat that in five days, that would be awesome.”

The keys to his success in start No. 6, and going forward this season?

“Sinkers down and away — he can mix in every now and then inside,” Martinez explained.

“Throw his breaking balls like he did today, and his changeup was good,” he continued, “so he had three good pitches, so if he can continue to do that he’s going to be just fine. Like I said, he looked really good today, so I’m very pleased with what he did today.”

“I just hope that ... Corbin saw what he did today and can repeat that in five days, I mean, he was good,” Martinez added.

Corbin was, of course, pitching in Coors Field tonight, which is never easy for any pitcher, but he started off well enough, working around three singles and a couple errors for three scoreless on 42 pitches to start the game, with a 1-0 lead after two and a half...

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Back-to-back, one-out singles, and an error on a potential inning-ending double play ball (E:6 on Alcides Escobar) loaded the bases with Rockies in the bottom of the fourth, to set José Iglesias up with an RBI opportunity he cashed in with a two-run double to right, 2-1, and 4-1 on a line drive to center by Connor Joe which Victor Robles dove for but missed. An RBI groundout to short by Charlie Blackmon made it 5-1 before Corbin got out of the inning.

Corbin worked around a leadoff double in the fifth, and a leadoff single in the sixth, finishing six on 79 pitches, and he returned to the mound in the home-half of the seventh and retired the Rockies in order in a 10-pitch frame which left him at 89 total.

Corbin came back out for the eighth and tossed a quick, five-pitch inning to keep it a three-run game...

Patrick Corbin’s Line: 8.0 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 Ks, 94 P, 70 S, 17/5 GO/FO.

Yadi Dadi:

With a leadoff single in the 2nd, Yadiel Hernández improved to 9 for 14 in three-plus games on the Nats’ road trip and 21 for 58 (.362/.387/.535) in 62 plate appearances in 2022, with a total of seven doubles, a home run, three walks, and 12 Ks in 16 games. His 3 for 5 game for the Nationals in the series opener with the Rockies had his manager in awe.

“Wow,” Davey Martinez said when asked for his thoughts on the 34-year-old slugger’s start to the season. “But I’ve said this before, the guy can hit, and it doesn’t matter if you’re left-handed, right-handed, he has good at-bats, and right now he’s swinging the bat really well.”

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The three-hit game in the first of three with the Rockies, “... was his third straight multi-hit game,” the Nationals mentioned in their pregame notes for the middle game of the series, and he’d, “hit safely in six of his last seven games, going 12 for 29 (.414) with five doubles, one homer, 11 RBI, one walk and five runs scored,” over that stretch.

He added another multiple-hit game in the second of three with the Rockies, going 2 for 4 on the night.

Gomber’s Turn:

Riley Adams singled to start the top of the third, after Rockies’ starter Austin Gomber tossed two scoreless against the Nationals on 29 pitches, and one out after the catcher’s hit, César Hernández singled to center field to drive in the first run of the game for either team, 1-0, on a first-pitch slider from Colorado’s left-handed starter.

Gomber held it there through four, and he took the mound in the fifth with a 5-1 lead after a five-run rally for the home team, and gave up a leadoff home run to left by Lane Thomas, 5-2, on a 1-2 slider up in the zone outside that Thomas hit 431 feet to left field in Coors Field.

An 11-pitch sixth, in which he worked around a leadoff single, left Gomber at 82 pitches total on the night, and the southpaw retired the first two batters in the seventh, before a two-out walk to Lane Thomas ended his outing...

Austin Gomber’s Line: 6.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 Ks, 1 HR, 94 P, 62 S, 8/0 GO/FO.

Bullpen Action:

Tyler Kinley came on to record the final out of the top of the seventh inning to keep the Rox’ three-run lead intact, still 5-2.

Kinley hit Victor Robles to start the top of the eighth, but a swinging K from Alcides Escobar and a double play grounder from César Hernández erased Robles from the basepaths.

Daniel Bard got the ball in the ninth and the right-hander retired the side in order to end it...

Nationals now 9-17