PITTSBURGH -- After a year of searching for consistency, Patrick Corbin has been settling in during the month of September and looking to gain momentum ahead of the offseason.

“[I am] trying to finish this year strong, pitch as deep as I can in the remaining games that I have and end the season on a high note,” said Corbin (8-14).

In Washington’s 6-2 win over the Pirates in the series finale at PNC Park on Sunday afternoon, Corbin delivered one of the stronger outings of his ninth Major League season. The southpaw hurled 101 pitches over seven innings, while allowing four hits, two runs and two walks, recording four strikeouts.

• Box score

Corbin got on a roll as the game went on, retiring his final 12 batters in four scoreless 1-2-3 innings.

“I thought overall [I] threw strikes, was in the zone, got a bunch of ground balls and [was] able to put up some zeros there late,” he said.

Corbin leaned on his slider for 41 percent of his pitches, mixing in his fastball (30 percent) and sinker (29 percent) while throwing just one changeup. With this performance, his ERA dipped to 5.98 after he entered the game with a 6.14 ERA, the highest in the Majors among qualified starters. He has allowed five total runs over his last two starts combined.

“I like when he throws the ball down [and] he uses both sides of the plate,” manager Dave Martinez said. “That’s the key to me, is that he utilized the outside part of the plate very well today and pitched in when he had to.”

Corbin also worked again with longtime batterymate Alex Avila, who was one of three Nationals players to homer, along with Luis García and Lane Thomas. The combination of offensive sparks and Corbin’s outing helped the Nationals snap a three-game losing streak and avoid a series sweep. 

“Any time we put up some runs there, it’s always great,” Corbin said. “I was able to … turn the lineup over, and Lane hits a big three-run homer there, so that was kind of the separator.”

It was Corbin’s second start in a row of completing seven frames and reaching 100-plus pitches, a bounceback from throwing a combined eight innings in his last two starts of August. As a result, Martinez only had to make two calls to the ‘pen -- for Mason Thompson and Kyle Finnegan -- ahead of opening a three-game home series against the Marlins on Monday with Paolo Espino on the mound.

“I’m excited about the way Corbin’s pitching,” Martinez said. “For me, it’s giving that bullpen a little break. Now we’ve got some guys that’ll come back, they’ll be fresh for tomorrow.”