On the off chance that Gerrit Cole’s appearance permitted the Yankees fan base to move past the Patrick Corbin adventure, Corbin did his part to resuscitate it on Sunday at Nationals Park.
The left-hander, who grew up a Yankees fan in upstate New York and scarcely concealed his interest in the Yankees two offseasons prior before signing with the Nationals, started his 2020 in fine fashion, permitting just two hits and a run in 6 ¹/₃ innings of work. He left as the triumphant pitcher, just to see his partners in the bullpen give up the lead as the Yankees edged Washington, 3-2.
Inquired as to whether it was significant to pitch against the Yankees for just the second time in his nine-year career, Corbin stated, “Yeah, I remember pitching in Yankee Stadium [in 2013], which was cool [in my] first full season, having family there. I know a lot of family back in Syracuse were watching.”
The Yankees invited Corbin, at that point a free operator, for a Yankee Stadium visit in November 2018, and keeping in mind that they examined financial parameters with him, the two sides never drew near to conceding to terms. The Yankees had a four-or five-year contract as a primary concern for Corbin, and the Nats landed him for $140 million more than six years. Corbin rewarded the Nats’ confidence by playing a key role in the franchise’s first championship.
On Sunday, Corbin whirled six scoreless innings and struck out Aaron Judge to start the seventh. At the point when the next player, Gleyber Torres, took him deep to break the shutout, be that as it may, Corbin’s 75th pitch, Washington manager Dave Martinez went to the hill.
“It was hot,” Martinez said, referring to the first-pitch temperature of 91 degrees. “We talked about, ‘This was the first time he’s been up in the seventh inning.’ To the first batter, the ball was up a little bit. He likes to pitch down in the zone.
“I went out and talked to him. He said he felt fine. We had our guys in the bullpen locked in. I thought it was the perfect opportunity. He gave us all he had for as long as he could.”
Will Harris diminished Corbin and, in the wake of striking out Giancarlo Stanton, surrendered the game-tying homer to Luke Voit.
In spite of the last score, Corbin didn’t differ with his manager’s decision, saying, “I haven’t made it to a sixth inning [in intrasquad/exhibition action], so I thought getting to the seventh there, even though the pitch count wasn’t super high, getting up seven times wasn’t something that I have done. After that home run, with Stanton coming up, we have a good bullpen down there, so you’ve got to get them in there. I understand it.”
He’s making it as hard as could reasonably be expected, however, for Yankees fans to comprehend why their group passed on him.
