PHILADELPHIA -- Patrick Corbin found himself searching for answers again when he was pulled from his outing after just 2/3 innings for the second game in three starts.

The 33-year-old southpaw’s pitch count soared to 43 pitches, resulting in six runs off five hits -- including two home runs -- and two walks and a hit-by-pitch without a strikeout against the Phillies in the Nationals’ 11-5 loss Saturday at Citizens Bank Park.

Only 10 days earlier, Corbin made an early exit in Los Angeles after allowing six runs off seven hits and one walk across 45 pitches in a July 27 loss to the Dodgers.

“Frustrating night,” Corbin said. “I seemed kind of lost there just trying to figure out how to go out there, compete, get outs.”

Corbin is the first non-opener starter to record two starts of 2/3 innings or less this season. He is also the first pitcher in Nationals franchise history to have two starts of 2/3 innings or less in one season.

Entering Saturday, only seven pitchers had allowed six-plus runs in the first inning this season. Corbin was one of them, and he became the only pitcher to do so twice in 2022.

"The last few outings have been basically the same, really,” manager Dave Martinez said. “He can't finish hitters, his location, his misses. I feel bad. I mean, he's going out there and, believe me, he's not trying to miss his location. He's trying to get outs, and he's just not finishing hitters.”

Corbin did not see a direct correlation between the two short starts. He would like to get back to the efficiency he has had with his slider (he threw it for 11 pitches, compared to 24 sinkers), and he will seek out feedback from others on the team.

“It’s hard to really say on pitching one inning when you throw 40-plus pitches,” he said. “I think I can say a lot of things can be looked at.”

The loss to the Phillies dropped Corbin to 4-16 with a 7.02 ERA on the season, and it further accentuated his struggles over the past three years. Since going 14-7 during the 2019 regular season and delivering the win in Game 7 of the World Series out of the bullpen, Corbin is 15-39 in 65 starts. He is leading all pitchers in losses for the second consecutive season.

Corbin is in the fourth year of a six-year, $140 million deal he signed with the Nationals in December 2018. The two seasons remaining on the deal are worth $24.4 million in 2023 and $35.4 million in ‘24, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

Corbin said he physically feels good as a starter, which adds to the frustration of the results. Given his struggles in the rotation, there is the question if a transition to the bullpen could help him return to 2019 form.

"Honestly, I really don't know that yet. I really don’t,” Martinez said. “His value to us is starting. So we want to continue to try to figure this out. … At what point do we say, ‘Maybe we should just go in a different direction.’ But I don't want to make that decision right now. I want to talk to him, I want to see what's going on, see how he's doing physically and mentally, and then we'll go from there."

For every game a Nationals starter does not go deep, an already-taxed bullpen becomes even more overworked. After Corbin’s early exit vs. the Dodgers, four relievers had to pick up the remaining frames. On Saturday, there were six calls to the ‘pen -- Jordan Weems, Steve Cishek, Hunter Harvey, Carl Edwards Jr., Kyle Finnegan and Andres Machado.

This came one night after Josiah Gray exited after only four innings -- Erasmo Ramírez, Víctor Arano and Machado covered those final four frames -- and one day before Cory Abbott makes his second start of the season. (He threw five innings against the Mets on Tuesday.)

“I feel bad for the guys that had to come in and finish the game and eat up innings there,” Corbin said. “I just didn’t do my job tonight.”

Corbin had eight innings to reflect on his short outing, and he will have another five days to do so before his next start. While the end results have been similar at many points this season, the inconsistency of his performances doesn’t sit well with him.

“This whole year’s been kind of like that, really frustrating,” Corbin said. “But you’ve got to learn from it, try to get better. It’s tough, obviously. I’m not enjoying where I’m at. So just try to get better.”