Patrick Corbin throws eight scoreless in Washington Nationals’ 11-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates

With three hits, two walks, and six runs in the third inning, the Washington Nationals busted things open in the third of four with the Pittsburgh Pirates in PNC Park, jumping out to a 6-0 lead.

Patrick Corbin dominated the Bucs, and was efficient all night in the Steel City, as he tossed eight scoreless on 93 pitches in what ended up an 11-1 win.

Corbin vs the Bucs: Patrick Corbin took the mound tonight unbeaten in his last 11 outings, with a 2.37 ERA, 20 walks, 86 strikeouts, and a .228/.283/.360 line against in 68 ¹⁄₃ innings pitched, going (4-0) in that stretch, with the Nationals 8-3 with the left-hander on the hill.

Nationals’ skipper Davey Martinez talked about Corbin’s composure on the mound and the competitiveness the southpaw brings to his turns in the rotation after he held Milwaukee to a run on seven hits in a 2-1 win last week.

“He’s very poised, really,” Martinez told reporters, “Nothing really rattles him out there. He knows when to step off, he knows when to take deep breaths, he knows when to slow down, but he’s a gamer. We talk about the Scherzers and the Strasburgs, but he’s just as competitive as any of them, and when guys get on base that’s when he becomes nails, he really does.”

Corbin, with help from a leaping catch at the left field fence by Juan Soto, who robbed José Osuna of a potential home run with two out in the fourth, completed four scoreless on 49 pitches tonight in PNC Park, with the Nationals already up 6-0 at that point.

Jacob Stallings and Erik Gonzalez hit back-to-back, one-out singles off Corbin in the Pirates’ fifth, but both runners were stranded two out later as Corbin finished his fifth scoreless at just 61 pitches.

Another 12-pitch frame in the Pirates’ sixth left Corbin at 73 pitches, with three hits and two walks allowed, and he came back out for the seventh and retired the side in order in a nine-pitch frame, which left him at 82 total.

Corbin threw an 11-pitch, 1-2-3 frame in the eighth, which left him at 93 pitches, and the Nats went to the pen in the ninth...

Patrick Corbin’s Line: 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 Ks, 93 P, 63 S, 12/5 GO/FO.

Musgrove vs the Nats: Pirates’ righty Joe Musgrove came into tonight’s outing winless in his last three turns in the rotation, with 13 runs allowed in 16 innings in those starts (7.31 ERA), though eight of the thirteen runs he was charged with came in 3 ¹⁄₃ innings on the mound in his appearance against the New York Mets on August 4th.

Facing the Nationals for the first time this season, Musgrove worked around a bunt single by Adam Eaton and a throwing error on a pick attempt in the first, then retired the side in order in the second.

Yan Gomes walked to start the third and took third on another throwing error by Musgrove on a bunt by Nats’ pitcher Patrick Corbin, but the Nationals’ catcher got caught off the bag on a ground ball to third base off Trea Turner’s bat, and got tagged out in a rundown.

Corbin scored from second base a batter later, when Adam Eaton doubled to right, 1-0, and Turner and Eaton scored on a two-run single to center by Anthony Rendon, who picked up his 99th and 100th RBIs on the hit, 3-0 in the third.

Juan Soto walked with one out in the inning, and he and Rendon scored on a three-run shot to center by Asdrúbal Cabrera, whose 14th home run of the season made it a 6-0 game.

Musgrove worked his way out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the fourth, and retired the Nats in order in the fifth, but he was up to 84 pitches at that point, and the Pirates went to the pen in the sixth.

Joe Musgrove’s Line: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 84 P, 58 S, 8/6 GO/FO.

Turn-On: Trea Turner singled in his third at bat last night, extending his on-base streak to 27 games, over which the 26-year-old shortstop was 38 for 114, .333/.403/.544, with four doubles, a triple, six home runs, and 13 walks in 129 plate appearances, with hits in 12 of his last 13 games, with a walk extending the streak in the only game he didn’t record a hit.

Turner sent a fly to center the first time up tonight, and grounded into a fielder’s choice in his second at bat, but he dropped a single into short right in his third trip to the plate and extended his on-base streak to 28-straight games.

BULLPEN ACTION: Dario Agrazal took over for the Pirates in the top of the sixth, retiring the Nationals in order in a 13-pitch frame, and he came back out with a 1-2-3 frame in the top of the seventh as well, completing two scoreless in relief on 23 pitches.

Parker Markel came on for the home team in the top of the eighth, and gave up a one-out double by Matt Adams, a walk to Victor Robles, and a two-run, two-base hit by Yan Gomes (2 for 3) as the Nationals added to their lead, 8-0, then Gomes scored on a gapper to right-center by Patrick Corbin, 9-0.

Adam Eaton and Anthony Rendon (who walked more than he K’d in college) took back-to-back, two-out walks that ended Markel’s outing and loaded the bases, but Juan Soto K’d swinging to end the threat with Francisco Liriano on the mound. 9-0 after eight and a half.

Liriano gave up back-to-back, two-out walks to Victor Robles and Yan Gomes in the top of the ninth, and pinch hitter Adrián Sanchez singled to center to drive in one and make it a 10-0 game, and Trea Turner lined a single to left-center off position-player-as-pitcher José Osuna to drive Gomes in as well, 11-0.

Tanner Rainey gave up a leadoff single in the Pirates’ half of the ninth, and a one-out RBI double by Josh Bell, 11-1. That’s how it ended. Ballgame.

Nationals now 69-57