Corbin continues dominant run in 11-1 win (updated)

PITTSBURGH - Sure, all this offense over the last week has been nice eye candy for the Nationals and their fans. Who doesn't like to see a ballclub score lots of runs in bunches?

Let's not forget the real backbone of this Nationals roster, though. As always, it's built on the broad shoulders of a starting rotation that has been the one constant all season long, no matter the nightly state of the lineup or bullpen.

And Patrick Corbin has been a major part of that equation.

No, Corbin hasn't consistently dominated the way Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg have. But the lefty has been excellent far more than he hasn't. And tonight he put it all together with one of his best performances of the season, weak opponent or not.

Mowing down a Pirates lineup that already had been mowed down by the previous two night's starters, Corbin cruised through eight scoreless innings and rode another big early burst of offense from his teammates en route to an 11-1 cakewalk at PNC Park.

"He was awesome," manager Davey Martinez said.

Corbin didn't induce a bunch of swings and misses off his trademark slider as he's done in the past. He just got outs, and quick outs. The lefty needed only 93 pitches to record 24 outs, relying instead on a two-seam fastball that induced a bunch of groundballs.

"I know teams, when they face me, they know they're going to see a lot of sliders," he said. "Some lay off, some don't. You've just got to execute your fastball when you can command it to both sides of the plate and have a good mix there. You can get quicker outs, and get ground balls and work deeper into ballgames."

"You've got to understand: As the season goes on, guys are going to start making adjustments to what's working for him," catcher Yan Gomes said. "I mean, guys were swinging at the first pitch right away. If he's throwing it good, keeping the ball down, you might as well keep doing that and go a pretty fast eight innings."

Corbin certainly looked capable of returning to the mound in search of his second complete game of the season, but with his team up nine runs Martinez decided there was no reason to extend his starter and let Tanner Rainey finish the game. (Rainey gave up a ninth-inning run to end the shutout bid.)

"If the game was closer, obviously he stays in the game," Martinez said. "But this is the time of year, with us scoring all those runs, give him a little breather. Give him a little break. He did everything he had to do for us. We scored a bunch of runs. And that's all it was. Keep him under 100 pitches, because we've still got a lot of baseball left."

It was yet another lights-out performance from a Nationals starter in a series featuring nothing but lights-out performances. Corbin, Strasburg and Joe Ross (who only lasted 3 1/3 innings Monday after getting struck in the leg by a comebacker) have thrown 18 1/3 scoreless innings against the Pirates this week. And now Scherzer returns from the injured list to start Thursday's series finale, the ace finally cleared to take the mound after spending the better part of six weeks itching to return from a pair of upper back injuries.

"We're excited," Corbin said of Scherzer. "I think a lot of guys are ready to get him out of the dugout. He's kind of getting on ... nerves. He's taking pre-workout on days he's not even playing. So that's just him. No, we're excited. He's the best in the game. To have him back, and where we're at in the division, it's always good to add an arm like that."

Strasburg's seven innings of scoreless ball Tuesday were wasted by a bullpen blowup and a rare off-night for the lineup. The Nationals made sure they didn't waste Corbin's performance tonight, scoring 10 or more runs for the fifth time seven games.

A six-run rally in the top of the third included an RBI double by Adam Eaton, his ninth extra-base hit and 11th RBI in seven games. It included a two-run single by Anthony Rendon, giving him an even 100 RBIs on the season to match his career high. And it included a three-run blast to center by Asdrúbal Cabrera, merely the latest big hit for the veteran second baseman who has simply become the latest midseason pickup to come up big for the Nationals.

Dumped by the Rangers at the start of the month and signed by the Nationals for roughly $180,000 (the prorated portion of the league minimum salary), Cabrera has taken on a significant role here, especially in recent days while Brian Dozier has been away on paternity leave.

In 11 games as a National, Cabrera is batting .324 with 13 RBIs, a .422 on-base percentage and 1.044 OPS. Not bad production for $180,000.

"The first day when I got here, it was like I was with this team from spring training," the veteran infielder said. "They gave me a warm welcome, and I appreciate that from everybody in here. I feel part of the family."

The Nationals wouldn't do anything else at the plate against Joe Musgrove or the Pirates bullpen until the top of the eighth, when they tacked on three insurance runs via RBI doubles from Gomes and Corbin. That meant all nine players in the Nats starting lineup scored for the second time in a week.

And if that wasn't enough, they added two more runs in the top of the ninth to get over the double-digit mark again and put a definitive stamp on tonight's proceedings.

"You just show up tomorrow and hope to do it again," Gomes said. "It's one of those things where when a lineup like ours gets hot from top to bottom - even Pat got himself a knock today - these are fun teams to be around."