'Tip your cap': Corbin gets results vs. Crew

MILWAUKEE -- Patrick Corbin put his struggles this season behind him and delivered a bounceback performance to earn his first win since July 7 in the Nationals’ 4-1 victory over the Brewers on Friday night at American Family Field.

"Tip your cap to Corbin,” Milwaukee starter Brett Anderson said. “He pitched phenomenally. He pitched like the All-Star he has been in the past.”

In a year that has been marred by inconsistencies for Corbin (7-12), manager Dave Martinez had tasked the slider-dominant lefty with incorporating more fastballs into his arsenal. He had noticed opponents were sitting on Corbin’s go-to pitch the third time through the batting order, and he wanted a frustrated Corbin to make an adjustment before his 24th start of the season.

“I want him to locate his fastball and throw his fastball a lot more, in and out of the zone,” Martinez said pregame. “So we’ll see what happens today.”

The result was a strong outing against the National League Central-leading Brewers. Corbin tossed 6 1/3 innings, allowing three hits and one run without a walk while fanning seven over 92 pitches (61 strikes). Martinez lauded him for attacking the strike zone, getting ahead of hitters and using both sides of the plate. Corbin exited after yielding a solo home run to Avisaíl García in the seventh.

“These guys are a good team,” Corbin said. “Getting after every pitch is kind of really what I feel like I’ve been doing, but tonight the results were there.”

Corbin put Martinez’s game plan into action by mixing up his pitches with 45% sinkers, 27% sliders, 26% four-seam fastballs and 2% changeups. His velocity also surpassed 95 mph. In contrast, he struggled in his previous start on Saturday against the Braves, when he threw 55% sliders, 31% sinkers, 11% four-seam fastballs and 3% changeups.

“Today, there were a couple of guys that we wanted to stay hard on in their lineup, and I thought we did a good job with that,” Corbin said. “If I’m able to throw some fastballs, get strikes early on, they see the slider a little bit less. ... Tonight, we were trying to be aggressive down there in the zone and make some quality pitches.”

Friday’s performance marked Corbin’s fewest hits allowed since June 9, and fewest runs allowed since June 15 and no walks issued since June 26.

“I thought today, it was a perfect example of what he can do when he utilizes all his pitches,” Martinez said.

The start also was a shift from his last outing against the Brewers. Earlier this season in a May 29 doubleheader, Corbin surrendered four runs off as many hits with five strikeouts over 78 pitches. The Nats lost, 4-1.

"I think compared to when we faced him in May in Washington, the velocity is significantly up,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “The velocity on the fastball was good, and he was in the zone with his fastball enough that we didn’t get good swings on the fastball, I didn’t think."

Corbin’s ERA dipped to 5.82 after it had reached above 6.00 in his previous start.

“It feels good to go out there, pitch well and have some good results,” he said.