Corbin goes six innings, Nationals get three solo homers in 4-1 win against Marlins
Jose Tena had two hits including a home run, Patrick Corbin pitched six innings and the Washington Nationals beat the Miami Marlins 4-1 on Saturday.
Joey Gallo and Juan Yepez also homered for Washington, which has won three of four, and Keibert Ruiz had two hits.
Corbin (6-13) allowed a run on three hits with a walk and six strikeouts. He didn't allow a hit after the second inning and retired 13 of his last 15 batters. Corbin has won four of his past five starts, two of them against the Marlins, and has lowered his ERA by nearly half a run to 5.45.
"I think I've just kind of located a lot better, have gotten some more strikeouts which helps, keeps the ball out of the infield or out of the outfield where they can get hits," Corbin said. "Not walking as many guys. Just a combination of all that and locating fastball and not really getting beat on that pitch as much."
Kyle Finnegan pitched the ninth for his 38th save, third most in the majors.
Otto Lopez had two hits and the lone RBI for the Marlins, who have lost five of six.
Miami starter Valente Bellozo (2-4) gave up three runs on six hits — two of them homers — over 5 1/3 innings.
"I thought he was good," Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said of Bellozo. "Lot of strikes. Kept us in the game. The solo home run we can always live with. It's the walks and that type of thing that gets us trouble but I thought he didn't do any of that. He did really well."
Gallo tied the score 1-1 in the bottom of the second when he sent a 2-0 Bellozo pitch into the second deck in right.
Washington took a 2-1 lead in the fourth. Tena singled, stole second and scored on Ruiz's single over the first-base bag.
Tena made it 3-1 with one-out home run in the sixth, ending Bellozo's day.
"He's a very, very good player overall, but a very good hitter," Gallo said of Tena. "To hit that ball out ... it was like a curveball down and away and he's able to hit it out to right center."
Tena, 23, is 13-for-36 (.361) in his past nine games, hitting safely in eight of them. Since joining the Nationals on Aug. 10 from Triple-A Rochester he leads the team with 12 multi-hit games.
Yepez homered in the eighth.
The youthful Nationals are last in the National League with 125 homers in 148 games.
"We're hoping that some of these guys as they get more mature will be able to drive the ball a little bit more consistently," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. "Right now it's just about working good at-bats, trying not to chase, teaching them how to get the ball in the zone more than anything."
Trainer's room
Marlins: RHP Sandy Alcantara (Tommy John surgery) threw a bullpen session Saturday and is slated to throw live batting practice Tuesday in Miami.
Nationals: SS CJ Abrams missed his second straight game with a sore left shoulder.
Up next
Miami RHP Adam Oller (1-3, 5.40 ERA) opposes Washington LHP MacKenzie Gore (8-12, 4.34), who allowed one run on one hit in six innings against the Marlins on Sept. 4, to close the series.