Corbin roughed up as Nats fail to complete San Francisco sweep (updated)

SAN FRANCISCO – A wild, eventful, successful opening series to this long West Coast trip gave way to an entirely undramatic loss in this afternoon’s finale.

A Nationals club that did so many things well – and overcame a sudden string of injuries – to take two straight from the Giants the previous two nights, did little well during a 7-1 loss at Oracle Park. And because of it, there was no first sweep of 2024, nor a return to .500 for now.

Patrick Corbin could not make enough pitches to prevent San Francisco from racking up seven runs and 11 hits off him, the left-hander’s worst of three starts to begin the year.

Corbin’s defense did him few favors, failing to make several plays that could have bailed him out and ended innings much sooner.

And the Nats lineup inflicted very little damage against Jordan Hicks, who was all over the place yet somehow allowed only one run on four hits and two walks in six innings.

So the Nationals conclude the first leg of a nine-game California trip – not to mention a weeklong stop in the Bay Area, with the Athletics coming up next this weekend – with their first series win of 2024, but not their first sweep.

"I thought the first two games were good. This one, not so good," manager Davey Martinez said. "We didn't hit. There were some miscues. But we're playing well."

Whatever the reason, the Nationals entered today having won six straight over the Giants dating back to last season. Another win today would complete a second straight sweep of San Francisco. For that to happen, though, they needed to get off to a better start this afternoon. Instead, they found themselves once again facing an uphill climb.

Joey Gallo’s towering homer to right in the top of the second – his third of the season after an 0-for-12 start – gave the Nats an early 1-0 lead. It was short-lived, thanks to a ragged sequence in the bottom of the inning.

Corbin was one pitch away from ending the second, with two outs and a runner on first. And when Jacob Young tracked back to the wall in deep center field in search of Nick Ahmed’s deep drive, it looked like Corbin would be headed back to the dugout with a zero on the board. Young, though, couldn’t maintain control of the ball as he crashed into the wall, the ball eventually squirting out as Ahmed raced all the way around to third with an RBI triple.

"It was a tough play behind me. I just wanted to secure it, get us out of the inning," he said. "It hurts, because then you gave up a couple more (runs) and you feel like it's on you. I just wanted to get Corbin out of that inning, and it sucks that ball was able to fall and it snowballed after."

Next came a broken-bat single by Tyler Fitzgerald, plating the second run. Then Fitzgerald swiped second, becoming (remarkably) the Giants’ first player to steal a base this season. Then he scored on Austin Slater’s single past shortstop CJ Abrams, completing a three-run rally that almost never was.

This turned into something of a recurring theme for Corbin. He was in position to minimize damage multiple times, but he couldn’t actually do it, either as a result of shaky defense, poor execution of pitches or just dumb luck.

"Just one of those days where none of the plays went our way," he said. "They put up some runs early and were able to hold the lead."

Corbin legitimately was the victim of poor luck, but he also didn't help himself with his inability to keep the ball from being put into play. He induced only three swings-and-misses the entire afternoon, a shockingly low number for a guy who used to strike out more than one batter per inning.

"There's definitely a blend of that, trying to find a good mix (of weak contact and swings-and-misses) that makes sense," he said. "Maybe some more sliders. I don't think we got to them as much today as the plan was. But they were aggressive throughout. You try to execute and get some weak contact. Sometimes they fall in, sometimes they don't. It just wasn't our day."

By the time Corbin finally handed the ball to Martinez with two outs in the sixth, six runs had crossed the plate via 11 hits (zero walks). And a seventh would score on another weird play, with Lamone Wade Jr. beating out an infield single, but Abrams throwing out trailing runner Fitzgerald (who inexplicably tried to score all the way from second on the slow roller).

"His line won't look good," Martinez said. "But I thought he pitched better than what his line says."

Those seven runs would’ve been too much to overcome on most any day. The deficit felt even more daunting on this day, with the Nationals lineup held in check by Hicks. The former Cardinals phenom closer is now trying to realize his potential as a starter with the Giants. He threw as hard as 99 mph today – though that pitch sailed well above and behind Young’s unexpecting head – but he looked out of sync on multiple occasions, even getting a visit from a trainer at one point.

Nevertheless, the swing-happy Nats didn’t score another run after the Gallo homer, with Hicks totaling only 79 pitches across six effective-if-unsightly innings.

"His ball moves a bunch," said Young, who went 0-for-3. "Good sinker, gets a lot of ground balls, a lot of soft contact. I think he was able to keep that sinker away from us, get a lot of ground balls and keep us off balance. He pounded the zone, and we just weren't able to string anything together."

* After the game, the Nationals optioned catcher Drew Millas back to Triple-A Rochester. Millas, who was called up for the day, started behind the plate with Keibert Ruiz feeling sick, and recorded a bunt single before stealing second base.

Martinez said the team will likely need to add another pitcher before Friday night's game in Oakland.