Nationals’ streak without starting pitcher win ends with Corbin’s victory over Reds

The streak is finally over.

Patrick Corbin allowed two runs in six innings Sunday to lead Washington to a 3-2 win over the Reds, ending the Nationals’ record streak of games without a starting pitcher victory at 43. 

That’s right: The Nationals went 43 games without one of their starters getting a win. And, coincidentally, the pitcher whose poor performance exacerbated the streak was the one to end it.  

Corbin, arguably the worst starting pitcher in the major leagues this season, was 0-7 with a 9.82 earned-run average since the streak began in early July. But he held the Reds at bay Sunday, scattering four hits and allowing just one earned run in his efficient outing. 

“For all of us, a win is a win,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “Patrick said it best: It was a team win. We want them to go out there and compete, and he did that today. He kept us in the ball game, and he pitched well.”

The streak is believed to be the longest in MLB history. No team since at least 1901 went as long as the Nationals had without a starter earning a victory. The closest team — not so close, really — is the D.C. squad that preceded the Nationals: the 1949 Washington Senators, who went 35 games between starting pitcher triumphs. 

Entering the matinee, the Nationals’ last curly W awarded to a starting pitcher was July 6 when Josiah Gray — the club’s best starter this season — punched out 11 Phillies in a 3-2 win that was succeeded by a nine-game losing streak. 

“Everyone knows that record here that was broken today,” Corbin said. “It’s not something that I’m proud of. We’ve been pitching good as a staff, and a lot of guys have been going out there and giving us a chance to win games.”

In today’s MLB, starting pitcher victories don’t mean much. A focus on strikeouts and significantly depressed pitch counts have caused managers to pull their starters earlier than in previous decades. It’s rare for a starter to throw much more than 100 pitches, and aside from a few superstar hurlers, going into the seventh isn’t too common — and forget about the eighth and ninth innings. 

But that trend — a move away from relying on starters and putting more weight on bullpens — has been slowly occurring for the last two decades. Still, no other team has come close to the Nationals’ recent starting pitching ineptitude. The Pirates went 34 straight games at the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022. MASN’s Dan Kolko was the first to report Washington’s infamous stretch. 

The streak wasn’t much of a surprise, nor would it have been if it had continued for the next couple of weeks. The Nationals’ rotation entered Sunday with a 5.94 ERA — worst in the bigs by more than half a run. The only club to have fewer starter wins than Washington is Pittsburgh, which has 16 victories to the Nationals’ 24 after a win Sunday over the Phillies.

Throughout the rebuilding campaign that has made the Nationals the worst team in the big leagues with a 43-85 record, Martinez has repeatedly mentioned how he wants his starters to go deeper into games. Washington’s rotation has struggled with being efficient in the early innings and with getting past the third time through the order unscathed. On Sunday, Corbin was efficient with his pitches — walking only one — and overcame two early runs to put the bullpen in position to hold his lead. 

The win was much needed for Corbin, who has struggled ever since winning Game 7 of the 2019 World Series with the Nationals. The victory, his first since June 11, prevented him from losing his 18th game of the season. 

“To get Patrick that win today felt really good,” Martinez said. 

Corbin now has about five starts remaining with 17 losses. If he loses three more games, he would become just the second pitcher since 1980 to record 20 losses in a season. The other was Mike Maroth of the 119-loss 2003 Detroit Tigers. 

Relievers Hunter Harvey, Carl Edwards Jr. and Kyle Finnegan followed Corbin with shutout frames to seal the victory. Finnegan slammed the door with a three-up, three-down ninth for his eighth save of the season. 

“We were fully aware in here of what was going on,” Finnegan said about the record streak. “To get [Corbin] that win today and kind of put an end to that was awesome. He pitched a heck of a game, handed it off to the bullpen and we were able to do our job.”

The game-winning run came via a solo home run from third baseman Ildemaro Vargas in the fifth. Designated hitter Nelson Cruz had an RBI walk in the fourth that was followed by a two-out RBI single from catcher Riley Adams. 

The Nationals are off Monday before hosting the Oakland Athletics for a three-game series that begins Tuesday.