Nationals make quick work of Rangers on a night for bounce-back pitchers
Friday night’s Nationals-Rangers game matched a pair of pitchers making the most of new situations on different teams. Washington’s Michael Soroka and Texas’s Patrick Corbin didn’t waste any time showing how much they have benefited from their new surroundings.
Both shined in a 2-0 Washington victory that was completed in a tidy 1 hour 50 minutes — matching the mark for the fastest game in club history. Soroka shined just a little bit more.
“It was nice to shut it down when there were guys on today,” Soroka said. “Just kept making pitches and got the result.”
The right-hander, an offseason signing who went 0-10 last season for a historically bad Chicago White Sox team, improved to 3-3 with six scoreless innings against the Rangers, allowing just two hits while striking out seven. He threw 85 pitches, 54 for strikes.
Corbin, who won a World Series during his six years in Washington, continued his bounce-back season for the Rangers, needing only 89 pitches to get through eight innings, allowing just five hits.
The only issue for Corbin was that three of those hits came in the second inning, when the Nationals scored the only run they would need. Alex Call’s seventh-inning homer served as insurance.
“[Corbin] is doing great over there,” Call said. “Glad to give him the L, but it was fun to get out there and compete against him for the first time.”
In the second, Nathaniel Lowe and Call singled to start the inning, with Lowe eventually scoring on a grounder from Robert Hassell III.
Soroka retired 14 of the first 15 batters he faced — he hit Kyle Higashioka with a pitch in the third inning — and he didn’t yield a hit until Adolis Garcia singled with two outs in the fifth. His best pitch was his breaking ball, which produced five of his seven strikeouts.
Heading into the sixth, Soroka was at 55 pitches. But the Rangers made him throw 30 pitches that frame and put the tying runner in scoring position. While Soroka’s breaking ball was starting to lose its crispness, he got Marcus Semien to pop out to right to end the inning, eliciting a fist pump as he walked off the mound.
“It was great, especially to have some adversity in the sixth inning and kind of get to that point where sometimes, in the last few games, it’s just that one more pitch that needs executing that just doesn’t quite get to its spot,” Soroka said. “This time, it did.”
“I thought he had enough to get through that inning,” Manager Dave Martinez said. “He showed today that he had enough. That was his game.”
Corbin, meanwhile, showed his old team just how much he has improved. The 35-year-old lefty signed a six-year, $140 million contract with the Nationals ahead of the 2019 season. That year, Corbin pitched to a 3.25 ERA in 33 starts and helped the team win a World Series. But in 137 starts over the next five seasons, Corbin had a 5.62 ERA and rarely looked like the same pitcher.
After waiting until the end of spring training to sign a one-year deal with the Rangers, Corbin has rediscovered his form . His outing Friday night lowered his ERA to 3.52. He was good. But Soroka was better.
“Got a lot of friends over there, but even when they were in the batter’s box, I just tried to go after them and not necessarily look at them,” Corbin said. “I wish nothing but the best for those guys, except for when we play them. It just didn’t work out today.”
Notes: Josiah Gray returned to Washington this weekend for the Nationals’ Youth Baseball Academy graduation Saturday. Gray is in his third full season as the academy’s ambassador. Gray, who underwent Tommy John and internal brace surgery 10½ months ago, plans to throw a bullpen session at Nationals Park before the ceremony.
At this point in his rehab, Gray is throwing 30-pitch bullpen sessions twice a week consisting of just fastballs. Martinez said Gray will incorporate changeups into his mix next week. Soon after, he will add breaking balls. Gray expects to face live hitters once he hits the 12-month mark. And he hopes that he will be on track to pitch in the big leagues before the end of the season. But on Friday, he spent most of his afternoon in the Nationals’ clubhouse catching up with his teammates.
“Just to be feel part of the team again is always a blessing,” Gray said. “I’m looking forward to these three days and just thinking about the next time I’ll be up here.” …
The Nationals reinstated outfielder Jacob Young from the 10-day injured list and optioned outfielder Daylen Lile to Class AAA Rochester. Young, who suffered an left AC joint sprain May 17, initially felt pain when he swung but said he no longer feels any discomfort. Lile, who debuted May 23, hit .194 with a .612 OPS in 11 games.
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