The Washington Nationals broke out the brooms Sunday and even though Patrick Corbin (1-5, 6.12) delivered another less-than-ideal start (two homers and three earned runs allowed over six innings) the bats broke out for a rally in the seventh (I’m crediting A-Ha’s “Take On Me” playing during the stretch for any seventh inning scoring at home this year) to take a 5-4 lead over Seattle.
But the AL West leaders are atop that division for a reason and they found the right swings against reliever Dylan Floro who was pitching for the third straight day and scored twice in the eighth inning. The Mariners then padded the lead with three more runs in the ninth off Jordan Weems and the Nats’ bid for a sweep ended with a 9-5 loss. And while the team departs D.C. on a road trip, one wonders if we have seen the last of two players from the 2019 club in their current roles.
Corbin won 14 games for the Nats in 2019 and was the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the World Series. Since then, he’s 28-62 with an ERA of 5.67 and has led the NL in losses three straight years. At 34 years old and in the final year of his contract, one wonders how much longer he’ll figure into the Nats’ plans for the present and future, especially with the emergence of rookie Mitchell Parker and the surprise season of offseason pickup Trevor Williams.
After allowing six earned runs over his first three starts in May (3.24 ERA), the lefthander returned to recent form by allowing 12 runs in his last two starts. He started Sunday against Seattle and depending on Josiah Gray’s rehab from elbow issues (he’s been out since early April) that might be the last home start we’ll see from Corbin.
Victor Robles hit 17 homers with 28 stolen bases to finish sixth in Rookie of the Year voting in 2019. Since then he’s batted .222 with 11 home runs (five per 162 games played) and has been more notable for baserunning blunders than anything else this year. On Sunday, he went 1-2 while batting ninth and was designated for assignment on Monday with Lane Thomas coming off the injured list, making the loss to the Mariners potentially the last time we’ll see the onetime phenom in a Nats uniform at home.
There are other players in the mix with options, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the team designate the one-time phenom for assignment, making Sunday potentially the last time we’ll see Robles in a Nats uniform at home.
Digesting the Division: Philadelphia (38-16), despite Sunday’s loss to Colorado, owns a six-game lead in the NL East. And this is minus Trea Turner, although his understudies have performed well as J.T. Realmuto is batting .369 with 12 runs in 65 at-bats from Turner’s No. 2 spot in the lineup and backup shortstop Edmundo Sosa is hitting .321 this month with 15 runs scored and 11 RBI this month.
Atlanta (30-20) avoided a sweep in Pittsburgh with Sunday’s win and host the Nationals in a four-game series this week. Washington (23-28) went 5-8 against the Braves last year after going 5-14 against Atlanta the previous two seasons.
The New York Mets (22-30) slipped into fourth place by losing five straight before Sunday’s walk-off win over San Francisco. Miami (19-35) may still be in last place but the Marlins have won four straight series.
Break up the Birds: Now that is how you answer a sweep. The Orioles (33-18) lost all three of their games in St. Louis to get broomed in the regular season (a major caveat because they were swept in the playoffs last October) for the first time since 2022, a stretch spanning 106 series. It’s no small feat, but they don’t hang banners for that (at least until the Indianapolis Colts get an MLB team) at this time. And you know what the O’s did in response? They simply came out and swept their four-game series with the Chicago White Sox. Up next? A 14-game stretch against AL East foes.
Diamonds Direct Diamond King of the Week: MacKenzie Gore struck out eight over seven innings of one-run ball to help the team secure the series opener against Seattle.
Last Week’s Heroes: Trevor Williams allowed one run over five innings in Saturday’s win to help the team lock down its first series win since Kentucky Derby weekend. Robert Garcia tossed 2.1 scoreless innings over two outings while Kyle Finnegan tallied his 14th save of the season. Keibert Ruiz hit .500 with a homer and four RBI while Luis Garcia Jr. hit a pair of homers while driving in six.
Last Week’s Humbled: Nick Senzel batted .200 while committing the error that led to the Mariners’ first run Sunday. Eddie Rosario batted .130 and even though Joey Gallo homered on Sunday, the slugger is batting .150, which isn’t nearly good enough for a player at what is primarily an offensive position. Jordan Weems allowed three runs in the ninth inning Sunday against Seattle while Patrick Corbin surrendered 11 earned runs over 12 innings in his two starts, which were both losses.
Game to Watch: This Thursday, the Nationals wrap up their series in Atlanta with unbeaten Trevor Williams (4-0, 2.29 ERA) matching up against the Braves’ Reynaldo Lopez (2-2, 1.75).
Game to Miss: On Friday night, we say goodbye to May while Patrick Corbin pitches in Cleveland. With the return of Josiah Gray from the injured list on the horizon, could this be the lefthander’s farewell start?
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