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NEW YORK — On an afternoon when news broke that Stephen Strasburg was planning to retire from baseball, teammate Patrick Corbin — one of the few remaining from the 2019 World Series team — earned a win over the New York Yankees by throwing himself Showers fought through scattered rain on a cloudy Thursday afternoon in the Bronx.
Corbin allowed two early home runs but continued a season trend by keeping his team in the game. The Nationals overcame the early deficit to claim a 6-5 win, fueled by a seventh run to four runs and a rough relief pitch from Kyle Finnegan in the ninth run.
Corbin allowed Aaron Judge a home run in the first inning, his fourth in the last two games. Gleyber Torres added a two-run home run in the third, but Corbin came to rest after that. The Nationals turned the game around with back-to-back home runs in the seventh round, the first being a two-run throw by Alex Call, then one by CJ Abrams.
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The Nationals (59-69) have won six of their last seven series, including the last four. The free-falling Yankees (61-66) have lost 10 of 11 games.
“That breaking ball for the two-run home run was like the only breaking ball mistake I made today,” Corbin said. “But think about it, I stayed in the corners and got a bit of a chase when I needed to take a few throws. … All in all it’s about giving up three, keeping us in the game and one shot away from getting back into the game, which we did.”
The game had some drama in the late inning after the Nationals took a 5-3 lead in the seventh. Giancarlo Stanton hit a solo home run on Jordan Weems in the eighth inning, reducing the deficit to one. Joey Meneses hit an insurance run with an infield single in the ninth inning before Stanton added an RBI single at the end of the ninth inning on Finnegan, who missed the deciding run in the second inning by making Harrison Bader go deep Fly mid to finish the game.
Corbin was on the same pitching team as Strasburg when the right-hander was the most dominant version of himself. Not many current internationals can say the same. Strasburg had what seemed to be the final start of his career in Miami last June and looked like a shell of himself. He allowed eight hits and seven runs over 4⅔ innings. Of the players in the team’s current roster, only Lane Thomas, Riley Adams and Weems have featured in this game.
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Strasburg, Corbin and future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer were the anchors of a pitching team central to this title shot. Corbin never returned to the form he was in that magical October, posting a 4.90 ERA in 131 starts since arriving in Washington. Although he wasn’t dominant against the Yankees, he gave his team a chance.
“He was really, really good,” said manager Dave Martinez. “Forget his numbers, whatever. He takes the ball every five days and takes part in competitions. He gives us six strong innings and that’s what I love about him. He throws the ball really well.”
The Nationals finished the game at 1 in the third, scoring an unearned run when Anthony Volpe hit a routine groundball that allowed Jake Alu to score.
Carter Kieboom, a 2016 first-round pick who was called up Sunday, also played briefly for Strasburg in 2019. He doubled to open the seventh inning and sparked the Nationals’ late-game rebound. Three batters later, Alu hit a two-out RBI single that hit Kieboom before Call and Abrams hit a home run.
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“It’s amazing,” said Call, who went 2-3 up his average to .202. “It’s great to hit a home run against the Yankees and help win a series. As for me, I’m proud of my shots no matter what’s going on. The ball didn’t really get in my way and I know I haven’t reached my level, but I still play hard and do my best every day.”
Abrams leaned a little to the right after his home run and Martinez spoke to him about it. As Abrams watched the ball fly, he hit an extra shot, then looked into his dugout and threw his racquet high in the air. Martinez didn’t like it, but the positive vibes were undeniable.
“All these guys, Call with the big home run, who’ve been struggling don’t give up,” Martinez said. “You don’t give up. You will find a way. You will find a way. We always surprise a lot of people. And I love it.”
Note: Keibert Ruiz was taken out of the game in Wednesday’s eighth inning after taking a foul ball off the face mask. Martinez said Thursday Ruiz felt light-headed, which led to his removal. Martinez decided to give him a full day off and play Adams behind the record.
Source : www.washingtonpost.com