The Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Angels will play the second game of their three-game series Saturday at Nationals Park, with both starting pitchers looking for something that has been difficult to come by this season — a win.
Nationals starter Patrick Corbin (2-12, 5.88 ERA) has just two victories in 23 starts this season — the first coming May 10 against the Boston Red Sox and the second coming July 19 against the Cincinnati Reds.
Angels starter Griffin Canning (4-10, 5.10) notched one win each in April, May and June before going winless in July. He earned a victory Sunday against the New York Mets.
Both have an ERA over 5.00, but that’s not to say they haven’t pitched well enough to win more games. Corbin has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 11 starts, whereas Canning has yielded three earned runs or fewer in 13 of his 23 starts.
Corbin has been a hard-luck pitcher — the Nationals have been shut out in six of his starts, including July 25 when the Padres’ Dylan Cease threw a no-hitter. In that game, Corbin endured a one-hour, 16-minute rain delay and matched a season-high with seven innings, allowing three runs and four hits.
“Patrick, you give him the ball and he doesn’t want to come out of the game,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “He’s going to give you as many innings and try to get as many outs as he can.”
Canning is hoping to carry over the success from his last start after a mechanical adjustment in his delivery. Looking at video, Canning and his pitching coaches surmised that hitters could see Canning’s grip as he separates the ball from his glove early in his delivery.
“I think it was just hiding the ball a little bit better,” Canning said of the adjustment. “I feel like hitters have kind of been telling me, I’m probably just showing the ball for too long, just based on the swings they’re getting off on me. I feel like I was hiding the ball and making them make later decisions.”
Corbin is 1-0 with a 4.91 ERA in two career starts against the Angels. Canning is 0-0 with a 3.60 ERA in one career start vs. Washington.
Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon went 3-for-5 in their 3-2 loss Friday, his first appearance in the nation’s capital since leaving the Nationals via free agency after their 2019 World Series championship.
Injuries have prevented Rendon from measuring up to the seven-year, $245 million contract he signed with the Angels, but he still garners respect in the clubhouse.
“Just the guidance of him being a World Series champ is definitely different,” Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel said. “And being able to experience the grind that he went through to get that. He told us early on in the season what we have to do in the future to get there and what it takes and all the aspects to it. It’s not just playing a game, it’s everything off the field as well.”
–Field Level Media