WASHINGTON (AP) — Boos cut through the windy, chilly night at Nationals Park as Patrick Corbin struggled for the second time in two starts in 2021 and Washington was on its way to falling to 3-7.
And that was even before Andrew Young’s first hit of the season was a grand slam that capped Arizona’s 10-run outburst in just two innings against Corbin on Thursday, putting the Diamondbacks on course for an 11-6 victory over the Nationals.
“He wasn’t sharp,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said about his left-handed pitcher.
“He wasn’t overpowering many hitters,” was Young’s assessment of Corbin, who is 0-2 with a 21.32 ERA.
As for Corbin’s own analysis of what is going wrong so far? Sum it up as befuddlement.
“I’m still trying to figure it out. I’m not really sure. I can’t really point to one thing,” he said. “It would be nice to know if there’s one thing or a couple things. I’m not quite sure.”
Here’s what counted as good news, at least: “I feel all right,” said Corbin, in the third season of a six-year, $140 million contract he signed as a free agent after two All-Star appearances for Arizona.
He was such a key cog in Washington’s run to the 2019 World Series championship, doing double duty in the rotation and in relief. Since then, though, he is 2-9. On Thursday, he was the cause of the jeers from the announced crowd of 6,666.
That’s the thing about bringing back spectators to baseball stadiums: The more there are, and the worse the home team plays, the more likely there is to be displeasure voiced. After zero fans at Nationals Park last season because of the coronavirus pandemic, then a limit of 5,000 for this month’s opening homestand, the capacity was allowed to roughly double Thursday.
Corbin allowed nine earned runs while…
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