The Pirates came off their hard-fought weekend series with the Braves with a flat performance against the struggling Patrick Corbin Monday, resulting in a 6-2 loss to the Nationals at PNC Park.
Corbin entered Monday's game with a 5.23 ERA, the highest among all National League starters with enough innings to qualify for the ERA title, but kept the Pirates off balance most of the night, striking out eight over 6 2/3 innings of two-run ball.
"Changeup and slider," Derek Shelton said on what made Corbin so effective. "After the first time through he went away from his fastball completely, and then the only time he went to his fastball is when he went to his fastball against his arm side or in to right-handers and was able to execute it."
If the Pirates were looking for pitches up, Corbin didn't give them many chances. Of his 98 pitches, 51 were sliders and 33 were sinkers, both of which do best down in the zone:
The Pirates started four rookies who had a batting average of .200 or lower against sliders this year: Alika Williams (.200), Endy Rodríguez (.158) Jared Triolo (.069) and Liover Peguero (.069). Spin can be one of the toughest things for a young hitter to adjust to in the majors, and Corbin's slider, which was once one of the game's elite breaking balls, looked like it regained its form for one night.
Meanwhile, Andre Jackson was torched his second time through the Nationals order, starting with a CJ Abrams home run in the third to open the scoring. The Nationals would add two more runs in the fourth to end his night.
Abrams would later added another home run for insurance, giving him 18 on the season.
"He's a good player," Shelton said. "We're talking about a guy that was one of the top prospects in the game and obviously was in a trade for one of the best players in the game [Juan Soto]. You're looking at a kid that, even from the time we saw him early in the year, he just continues to get better."
Jackson was one of the Pirates' more pleasant surprises of August, where he recorded a 2.92 ERA over his first six outings with the team in what was effectively an audition for a spot on the 2024 staff. He hasn't had the same run of success in September, having now allowed 10 runs over 8 1/3 innings.
"These are outings you learn from," Jackson said. "Obviously when it's going good, you don't really have to make adjustments. I'm grinding right now a little bit, and it's September and it's been a long year. But, that's something I can learn from. When you're in those outings and you got guys on base and don't have your best stuff, you still gotta make pitches. I still gotta give these guys a chance to win the game and didn't do that today."
Jackson has been used as both a starter and as a bulk guy with an opener and generally fared better with the latter. There aren't many guarantees for next year's opening day rotation, however, and he has an opportunity to make an impression to be in that mix now.
For that to happen, he's going to have to show that he can start strong, and more importantly, maintain it.
"Just gotta stay on the attack," Jackson said. "Second time through the lineup kinda got me the last couple times. Going into the next one, it's foot on the gas and stay ahead."
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THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• 10-day injured list: RF Henry Davis (thumb)
• 60-day injured list: SS Oneil Cruz (ankle), RHP JT Brubaker (elbow), LHP Jarlin Garcia (elbow), RHP Max Kranick (elbow), INF Tucupita Marcano (knee), LHP Angel Perdomo (elbow), RHP Vince Velasquez (elbow)
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
2. Bryan Reynolds, LF
3. Connor Joe, RF
4. Miguel Andújar, DH
5. Endy Rodríguez, C
6. Liover Peguero, 2B
7. Ji Hwan Bae, CF
8. Jared Triolo, 1B
9. Alika Williams, SS
And for Dave Martinez's Nationals:
1. CJ Abrams, SS
2. Lane Thomas, RF
3. Keibert Ruiz, C
4. Joey Meneses, DH
5. Dominic Smith, 1B
6. Travis Blackenhorn, LF
7. Ildemaro Vargas, 3B
8. Luis Garcia, 2B
9. Jacob Young, CF
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates will try to even the series Tuesday when Bailey Falter (1-8, 4.65) takes on Joan Adon (2-1, 5.56). First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. I'll have you covered.
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