In Friday night’s game at Nationals Park, Patrick Corbin faced off against Ronald Acuña Jr., quickly establishing an 0-2 count.

 

However, Corbin subsequently delivered three consecutive balls, bringing the count to full, and ultimately offered up a slider that Acuña capitalized on, launching his 40th home run of the 2023 season over the left-field fence, setting the tone for the game in the Washington Nationals’ home stadium.

 

Just one batter later, following a single by Ozzie Albies, Corbin found himself in a similar 0-2 count against Austin Riley, who hammered a 434-foot shot to left-center field, securing his 37th homer of the year and granting the Atlanta Braves an early 3-0 lead in what eventually concluded as a 9-6 victory for Atlanta.

 

Corbin’s outing lasted 4 1⁄3 innings, during which he yielded five hits and five earned runs, walked one batter, and registered a solitary strikeout, accumulating 68 pitches against the Nationals’ divisional rivals.

Manager Davey Martinez acknowledged the formidable nature of the Braves’ lineup, stating, “That lineup, through and through, they’re having an unbelievable year, all of them. When you’ve got that many guys with 100 RBIs and 30+ home runs, it’s a tough lineup to contend with.”

 

While the home team staged a comeback, narrowing the gap to just one run by the sixth inning, Marcell Ozuna’s three-run homer off reliever Andrès Machado proved decisive, providing the Braves with the runs required to secure victory in the second game of the four-game series. The series will conclude today with a doubleheader in the nation’s capital.

Due to the early postponement of Saturday’s third game in anticipation of the arrival of rain from Tropical Storm Ophelia, the Nationals will play their final two home games today.

Martinez expressed his intentions, stating, “I’m going to go back inside and figure out what’s going to transpire. It’s supposed to rain pretty heavily. It stinks, but we could use a day off. We really can. We’re at the back end of a long stint of playing every day, so we’ll come back and we’ll figure it out. I’ll sit in there with Pitching Coach Jim Hickey and have a game plan for Sunday.”