Slam, 'great inning' give Nats W, 'fun night'

WASHINGTON -- After Saturday’s nightcap loss to the Giants in extra innings, manager Dave Martinez noted the Nationals’ squandered offensive opportunities and missed chances with runners in scoring position that resulted in zeros on the scoreboard.

“They’re trying too much to do something that we shouldn’t really be doing,” he said. “We’ve just got to relax and play the game.”

Three days later, the Nats exemplified that approach during a five-run first inning in their 8-1 win over the Pirates at Nationals Park on Tuesday night, ensuring Patrick Corbin’s 8 1/3 innings of one-run ball were not wasted without offensive support.

“It was a great inning,” Martinez said. “That’s a good sign for us -- moving the baseball, everybody contributing. It was a fun night.”

Each run that crossed the plate in the first was the product of “one step at a time” hitting. Hot-swinging leadoff batter Kyle Schwarber opened the game with a single to right field off left-hander Tyler Anderson. Trea Turner (4-for-5) followed with a line-drive single to center field, and Juan Soto loaded the bases with a line drive to right.

After Ryan Zimmerman struck out swinging, Josh Harrison sent a line drive into right to plate Schwarber for the first run of the game.

And while not every hit has to leave the park to be effective, smacking a grand slam doesn’t hurt, either. Yan Gomes rocked a fastball a Statcast-projected 400 feet to left field to clear the bases. It was Gomes’ fourth career grand slam (first since July 3, 2018) and his sixth homer of the season.

“To do it in the first inning, that’s obviously a great feeling. You’re giving your starting pitcher a five-run spot,” Gomes said. “In those situations, I don’t know if you’re thinking grand slam, but you’re obviously thinking hit it deep or at least get one run in to get the lead going. Doing that is definitely a major plus.”

With the offense setting the tone with its early work, Corbin nearly went the distance in his 13th start of the season. He allowed one run on eight hits and one walk while recording seven strikeouts. Martinez emphasized that while he wanted Corbin to throw a complete game, Corbin reached his maximum count of 110 pitches -- an unwavering marker this early in the season.

The Nationals have seen strong outings from their starters, but they haven’t always provided the plate appearances to deliver the win. Entering Tuesday, Washington's starters had received 148 runs of support, ranked the sixth-lowest total in baseball. That figure calculates to 4.13 runs per nine innings, the fifth-lowest average among all teams.

Conversely on Tuesday, their five runs were the most they have scored in the first inning since plating six against the D-backs on May 14.

“It feels like we were starting the first inning down a couple runs, or a run or two, and it felt like we were always in a hole for a little bit of a stretch there,” Turner said. “It’s nice to do it to the opposing team. When you can put up runs early, I think it’s great, and when you can put up big innings, it’s great and lets our pitchers settle in and do what they do.”

The Nationals will go for the series sweep of the Pirates and their fourth straight win on Wednesday afternoon with Paolo Espino on the mound following Max Scherzer’s placement on the injured list.