Abbott's three scoreless innings help preserve Nats' bullpen

WASHINGTON -- Cory Abbott stayed prepared for 17 days.

The right-hander had last appeared in a game on June 1, when he threw five innings as the starter for Triple-A Rochester. Abbott was called up to join the Nationals' bullpen on June 7 after the team designated right-hander Erasmo Ramírez for assignment, but the multirole pitcher was not called upon by manager Dave Martinez for more than two weeks.

The Nats, trailing by the eventual deciding score of 4-2, turned to Abbott on Sunday afternoon against the Marlins after left-hander Patrick Corbin tossed six innings. Abbott pitched the remainder of the game, holding Miami scoreless with one hit, no walks and two strikeouts on 41 pitches (28 strikes).

“Abbott did a great job for us,” Martinez said. “He gave us three really good innings, and we needed that.”

Abbott, 27, had not been in a situation with as long of a hiatus. Last year, he had five stints with the Nats for a total of 16 games (nine starts), and he had two appearances out of the bullpen this May. This was a learn-as-you-go process for Abbott.

“It’s the first time I’ve had to do something like that,” Abbott said. “There’s not really one way to do it. The touch and feels saved me, that’s honestly the only answer I have for you guys. Just getting reps off the mound, doing a lot of dry work, feeling off the mound is kind of the key to just getting out there, and then the rest is just let your body do it. Let your body work.”

Abbott issued a single to Jon Berti in his first at-bat of the afternoon, then settled in to retire the next nine batters. Abbott threw primarily his fastball (23 pitches) and knuckle curveball (17 pitches), with one slider mixed in. The one hit allowed -- a popup into shallow right field -- came off a fastball inside.

“I was a little rusty out there, to be honest,” Abbott said. “I wasn’t happy with some of my curveballs. But it is what it is, and I was able to throw enough strikes and keep them off balance.”

The Nationals noted Abbott’s effectiveness against a Marlins team that scored 15 runs in the three-game series.

“He just filled the zone up, kind of had those guys moving their feet a little bit,” said right fielder Lane Thomas. “I thought it was great. He looked really good in there. I know his breaking stuff’s been good, too. It kept them off the heater, and it was good.”

The Nationals were able to preserve their bullpen in a crucial point of their schedule. They are six games into a stretch of playing on 16 consecutive days before their next off-day on June 29. In the first five games of this span (Tuesday-Saturday), the Nats made 16 calls to the ‘pen.

With Abbott’s outing, his teammates were able to get a rest before the quick turnaround of a 4:05 p.m. ET game against the Cardinals on Monday.

“That’s tough,” Corbin said. “To go that long without taking the ball, it’s tough on anybody. For him to eat up those three innings there was huge. I know we didn’t get the ‘W’ today, but he’d be the MVP for me, just being able to do that, save those guys in the bullpen and get ready for tomorrow.”