 on the 10-day injured list, Washington fell into the NL East cellar with a 7-11 record.''It's just not going for us right now,'' shortstop Trea Turner said. ''But we've still got time, and I think that same mentality the last few years - you're never out of it until you're out of it. We feel like we've got time to play good baseball. Our best baseball is in front of us.'' Corbin (2-1) went 14-7 last season and was being counted on to carry the load for a starting rotation that's gone stretches this summer without Strasburg and ace Max Scherzer, who was bothered by a sore hamstring. Corbin beat the Mets twice this month but was roughed up by the Orioles, who built a 4-0 lead in the second inning and held on.Corbin allowed five runs and eight hits with just two strikeouts in five innings. Last year he finished fourth in the NL with 238 strikeouts and had as few as two in only one start.''I wasn't getting ahead of batters like I normally do,'' Corbin said. ''When you're not doing that, you just put yourself in tough situations. I didn't really figure it out all night, really.'' Juan Soto and Turner homered for the Nationals, who closed to 5-3 in the sixth but couldn't complete the comeback.Coming off a 15-3 beatdown by Washington on Friday night, the Orioles bounced back immediately. Pedro Severino, formerly of the Nationals, hit a two-run double in the first inning and Velazquez tripled in a run in the second before scoring on a fly ball by Hanser Alberto.It was the first career triple and first RBI for Velaquez, who came in batting .136.Ruiz led off the fourth inning with his sixth homer after Soto hit a two-run drive in the top half.Asher Wojciechowski (1-2) allowed three runs in five-plus innings and Cole Sulser got four outs for his fifth save.''I don't care what people think. We know what we have here,'' Wojciechowski said. ''I'm not surprised at how we're playing. We all believe in each other, and we're here to win.'' TRAINER'S ROOMNationals: Strasburg (hand) threw only 16 pitches Friday night in his second start of the season, and manager Dave Martinez saw no option but to shut down the 2019 World Series MVP. ''I don't think this is going to get better soon. We tried,'' Martinez said. ''So right now, we're just going to try see if we can get him healthy.'' Orioles: CF Austin Hays was put on the 10-day IL with a non-displaced rib fracture, an injury that originated when he was hit by a pitch several days earlier. Hyde expected Hays to miss the minimum 10 days. OF Cedric Mullins was called up from the team's alternate training site. ... RHP Jorge Lopez was activated from the IL. He was obtained off waivers from KC on Aug. 9 and will be used initially as a long reliever.MEMORABLE DEBUTLuis Garcia was back in the Nationals starting lineup Saturday after playing second base and going 2 for 5 with an RBI in his first big league game Friday night. The 20-year-old stepped in for Starlin Castro, who went on the IL with a broken wrist.UP NEXTNationals: Scherzer (1-1, 2.75 ERA) starts in the series finale Sunday. He's 2-0 with a 1.53 ERA and 50 strikeouts in his last five starts against Baltimore.Orioles: LHP John Means (0-1, 7.71) makes his first start since Aug. 4 after spending time on the bereavement list and then undergoing mandatory coronavirus protocol.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Nationals, Orioles back at it after 'doubleheader'After losing a game, winning a game and losing two mainstays to injuries Friday night, the Washington Nationals will look for more stability when they face the host Baltimore Orioles again on Saturday.On Friday, the teams completed a game that was started on Sunday, and the Orioles finished with a 6-2 win that technically was part of the earlier series. The Nationals bounced back with a 15-3 victory later Friday in the regularly scheduled game, thanks to six players who knocked in two runs apiece.Results aside, the Nationals had a rough night Friday.Starter Stephen Strasburg experienced a nerve irritation issue in his pitching hand -- the reason he sat out the two weeks of the season before debuting Sunday -- forcing him out in the first inning of the regularly scheduled Friday game. He lasted just three batters and 16 pitches."I don't want this to become a bigger issue," manager Dave Martinez said to the media. "It was the same (thing). We'll re-evaluate him." Martinez said basically there is no real timeline for the right-hander yet.Washington also lost second baseman Starlin Castro with a broken right wrist in the suspended game. X-rays showed the break. The Nationals called up infield prospect Luis Garcia between games, and he went 2-for-5 with two RBIs while starting at second base in his major league debut. Martinez said Garcia would receive good playing time while Castro is on the mend.Castro, who will undergo a CT scan on Saturday, was placed on the 10-day injured list. The Nationals also moved left-hander Sam Freeman (left flexor strain) to the 60-day injured list, selected the contract of pitcher Dakota Bacus and optioned pitcher Ryne Harper to their alternate training site in Fredericksburg, Va.Patrick Corbin (2-0, 2.50 ERA) will start for the Nationals on Saturday, looking to improve upon an 0-1 record and a 3.38 ERA in three career outings, two starts, versus the Orioles. This season, Corbin has 20 strikeouts and three walks in 18 innings over three starts, two against the New York Mets and one against the New York Yankees.Asher Wojciechowski (0-2, 3.95 ERA) gets the ball for the Orioles in the middle game of the series. Wojciechowski has an 0-2 career mark plus a 4.05 ERA in five games (three starts) against Washington. He faced the Nationals last Sunday and was lifted after 3 2/3 scoreless innings.The Orioles need to get their offense and relief pitching going again."The bullpen guys have pitched quite a bit lately," manager Brandon Hyde said after the first game was completed Friday.Looking to ease that burden, Hyde gave a major league debut to left-handed reliever Keegan Akin in the second game. Akin lasted three innings but allowed three runs, including a homer."I was kind of clueless, really, going in," Akin said, according to the Baltimore Sun. "I just took a deep breath and said, 'You got this,' and that was it. I waited my whole life for this." Before the games Friday, the Orioles brought up pitcher Cody Carroll from the alternate training site at Bowie, Md., to serve as their 29th man for the "doubleheader," and he was torched for six runs on six hits in 1 2/3 innings.After the game, Akin and Carroll were both sent back to Bowie.Baltimore also brought up right-hander Chandler Shepherd and sent down struggling right-hander David Hess.Anthony Santander kept up his hot streak with a solo homer off Strasburg. The Baltimore outfielder now is tied with three others for most RBIs in the majors, 20.--Field Level Media
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