Gomes, Corbin lead Nationals; Pirates lose 9th straight

WASHINGTON (AP) — Yan Gomes connected for a grand slam and Trea Turner got four hits, leading Patrick Corbin and the Washington Nationals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-1 on Tuesday night.

The Nationals won their third in a row and sent Pittsburgh to its ninth straight loss.

Corbin (4-5) pitched 8 1/3 innings, allowing one run and eight hits. He struck out seven and walked one while going at least eight innings for the first time since Aug. 21, 2019.

“I felt the same that I have,” Corbin said. “It’s just been a frustrating first third of the season for me. Just continue to keep trying to work hard.”

Gomes’ slam finished a five-run first inning against Tyler Anderson (3-7).

“In those situations, I don’t know if you are thinking grand slam, but you are thinking hit it deep,” Gomes said.

It was Gomes’ first grand slam since joining the Nationals in 2019 and the fourth of his career.

“The pitches that (Anderson) made in the first weren’t bad pitches, they were just aggressive and put them in front of our outfielders," Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said. "The first inning was more about the grand slam than anything else.”

Kyle Schwarber led off the bottom of the first with one of three consecutive singles by the Nationals to start the inning. Ryan Zimmerman struck out with the bases loaded before Josh Harrison hit an RBI single and Gomes followed with his home run to left field.

The Nationals entered the game with a league-worst .460 OPS with the bases loaded this season. They'd hit one other grand slam — Josh Harrison against Baltimore — before Gomes connected. Prior to that, Washington had struck out 21 times and picked up only eight hits with the bases loaded in 2021.

Turner's first triple of the season made it 6-0 in...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Gomes-Corbin-lead-Nationals-Pirates-lost-9th-16250857.php