Trea Turner circled the bases, and by the time he got to home, his teammates were waiting for him. As the Nationals shortstop crossed home, the horde quickly piled on, jumping up and down in celebration.
Turner hit a walk-off home run Sunday to give the Nationals a 6-5 win over the New York Mets for their first victory of the year. It was the 25-year-old’s second home run of the game.
Before that, the Nationals had blown a 5-2 lead in the eighth, with relievers Trevor Rosenthal and Sean Doolittle each giving up runs.
After dropping their first two games, the Nationals entered Sunday hoping to rebound with starter Patrick Corbin, their prized six-year, $140 million free agent signing. The 29-year-old is coming off a career year in which he posted a 3.15 ERA and was named an All-Star with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Nationals were determined to upgrade their starting pitching this offseason. Last year, Washington’s starting rotation outside ace Max Scherzer was inconsistent — dealing with injuries and subpar outings. As a group, the Nationals’ starters finished 13th in ERA, down from fourth in 2017.
“He’s another facet to our team that goes out there and supports our team and is the backbone of the team,” Scherzer said last week about Corbin. “Starting pitching has always been the backbone of every team. Guys only play once every five days, so when it’s our turn to go out there, our energy is kind of what keeps everyone afloat.”
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A lefthander, Corbin was consistently able to strike out the Mets lineup thanks to an effective slider that he threw 41.5 percent of the time, according to Fangraphs. Before the game, manager Dave Martinez said Corbin’s slider is dangerous because he often keeps it down in the strike zone.
Corbin was far from dominant but made a solid debut.
Through six innings, he allowed seven hits, walked two and gave up two runs. Corbin was often behind in the count, throwing 39 balls to 55 strikes. He struck out four.
Corbin, though, avoided serious damage — and the Nationals were able to provide him run support.
In the third inning, Turner blasted a three-run shot deep into the left-field stands to put the Nationals ahead. He was set up by Victor Robles and Adam Eaton, both of whom quickly got on base against Mets starter Zack Wheeler.
Turner’s blast put the Nationals up 3-1 — giving them their first lead of the season.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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