BOSTON — The fans at Fenway Park sensed the momentum shifting in the fifth inning Friday night. Their Red Sox trailed the Washington Nationals by two runs, but the home team opened the frame with a pair of infield singles. Patrick Corbin was on the ropes.
The 31,313 quieted. Corbin exited. And four scoreless innings from the Nationals bullpen later, a 5-1 victory was secured in the opener of a three-game series. The win went to Corbin, his first of the year.
“Just huge to keep that momentum and put up a zero after they had a couple guys on,” Corbin said. “Was definitely my biggest inning tonight. … Keeping that lead, allowing the bullpen to come in and put up zeros and tacking on a couple of runs late was big.”
Corbin kept Boston off-balance all night, deftly mixing speeds and working the corners. In the fifth, he locked in.
“That was a big moment in the game, and he pitched his way out of it,” Washington Manager Dave Martinez said. “He threw the ball really well.”
The Nationals (19-18) and Red Sox (19-19) have both exceeded preseason expectations, largely on the strength of their rotations. Boston began the day with the lowest starter ERA in the majors at 2.33. Washington was a bit lower down the list at 16th, though that figure is misleading. Four of the team’s regular starters have sub-4.00 ERAs, including the young trio of Jake Irvin, MacKenzie Gore and Mitchell Parker. Trevor Williams leads the staff with a 1.96 ERA.
“As starters, you’re trying to set the tone, trying to get deep into the game and keep the game close,” Corbin said. “We’ve done a great job of that. I think maybe at times last year, we’d maybe give up some runs early and feel like we’re out of it. This year, it seems like the total opposite.”
Corbin, though, entered Friday with a 6.45 ERA through his first seven starts. At 34 and in the final year of a six-year, $140 million contract, he had allowed at least six hits in all but one of those outings. Against Boston, he allowed seven — but only one run and a walk over his five innings, striking out four. His ERA was lowered to 5.91.
His counterpart Friday was Red Sox right-hander Tanner Houck, who came in with the third-highest wins above replacement among pitchers, according to FanGraphs. He cruised through the first five batters he faced. Then came three straight two-out hits in the second inning from Keibert Ruiz, Eddie Rosario and Trey Lipscomb. Lipscomb’s two-run single had an expected batting average of .190, even though it was hit 104.8 mph. Boston shifted second baseman Vaughn Grissom toward the bag, and Lipscomb hit it through the hole on the right side of the infield.
The following inning was more of the same. Houck got the first two outs of the third, then allowed a double to Luis García Jr. Joey Meneses knocked an RBI single to the right side against the shift; his hit had an expected batting average of .080. But the Nationals had a 3-0 lead.
Houck went seven innings and didn’t allow another hit. In fact, Washington didn’t pick up another hit until the ninth when Rosario singled. He stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Victor Robles added an RBI single later.
It wasn’t necessary. The Red Sox left 11 men on base and went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position. Connor Wong provided that lone hit in the first inning, but O’Neill was thrown out at home by Robles. While the throw was up the line, Ruiz saved a run with a nice sweeping tag.
Martinez inserted Robles into Friday’s lineup for his range defensively, given the big dimensions of right field at Fenway. Robles made a running catch in the sixth and slammed into the wall. He grabbed at his left side but said postgame that he was okay. His throw in the first, though, was key — especially for Corbin, who has allowed 16 of his 28 earned runs in the first two innings.
“As soon as I saw the ball coming, I knew I had a chance to throw him out,” Robles said through an interpreter. “And I was just trying to focus on making a good throw, one bounce. It did tail toward the right side, but luckily it tilted toward the runner.”
Martinez opted to turn to his bullpen the rest of the way after Corbin’s 23-pitch fifth inning. Derek Law loaded the bases in the sixth, threatening to spoil the team’s two-run lead, but Robert Garcia struck out Jarren Duran. And the Nationals cruised the rest of the way on a night that started with Corbin’s strong efforts.
Notes: Josiah Gray threw a 35-pitch bullpen session Friday at Fenway Park, his third since Saturday. Gray, 26, continues to progress as he works his way back from a strained right flexor muscle near his forearm that has kept him out since mid-April. Before the injury, Gray had a 0-2 record and a 14.04 ERA. …
Cade Cavalli threw his second live bullpen session this week as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery. …
Lefty reliever Jose A. Ferrer returned to Washington’s spring training facility in Florida to continue his rehab from a strain of his right teres major muscle. Martinez said the hope is that Ferrer, who most recently threw from 75 feet, will start throwing off a mound soon.
