WASHINGTON -- As Tuesday approached, manager Dave Martinez had a feeling
Corbin threw eight innings, allowed one run off five hits (including a home run) and two walks, and he tied his career high with 12 strikeouts in the Nats’ 3-1 victory over the Pirates at Nationals Park. He tossed 73 of his season-high 113 pitches for strikes.\n\n \n\n“I’ve been feeling really good,” Corbin said. “Some ups and downs, but I thought today I was able to stay on the attack, I was able to use both sides of the plate, the slider was good today, and I thought Riley \\[Adams\\] did a great job back there. Just one of those nights where it seemed everything was clicking, and it just shows all the work that we’ve been doing to try to get to this point.”
\n\nA vintage outing from Patrick Corbin. pic.twitter.com/5djbTNuNwQ
— MLB (@MLB) June 29, 2022
Tuesday marked Corbin’s 16th career start with 10-plus strikeouts. The last time he reached double digits was Sept. 17, 2019, at St. Louis. He entered the game averaging 7.7 strikeouts per nine innings, having fanned six in his most recent start last Wednesday in Baltimore.\n\n“We had a really good slider tonight,” Corbin said. “And when you’re ahead, they chase a little bit more.”\n\nThe Nationals have needed length from their starters in an injury-hampered rotation. After throwing a combined 7 1/3 frames in his past two outings, Corbin tied his season high in innings.\n\n“Tonight, he was good with everything,” Martinez said. “His fastball was electric. His slider was awesome. He worked ahead in counts. He fell behind and took one ball up for the home run, but other than that, he was money all day. If we get that every five days from Corbin, we’re going to be good.”
Because of Corbin’s lengthy outing, the Nationals only needed to make one call to the bullpen: closer