Pitching behind an opener, the right-hander allowed three runs in five innings, and a late rally secured a 6-5 win.
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To try to limit the damage Jake Irvin could do in early innings, the Washington Nationals used an opener Sunday for the first time in his four-year major league career.
Coming out of the bullpen, Irvin allowed three runs in five innings, and the Nationals scored four runs in the eighth to beat the Los Angeles Angels, 6-5, and sweep the series. It was the Nationals’ third consecutive comeback win after a seven-game losing streak.
“Extremely proud of these guys, all series long and especially today,” Manager Blake Butera said. “That was a hard-fought win. … I know early on, the late innings weren’t great for us offensively, so happy to see us have a really good weekend.”
Irvin has struggled in the first inning, allowing 16 runs in his 19 starts. Washington had used an opener earlier this year with struggling veterans Zack Littell and Miles Mikolas, and each of them had a far better ERA coming out of the bullpen. But those two were stopgaps on one-year deals, making it easier for the Nationals to designate them for assignment last month.
Irvin still has three years of control left and may be a part of Washington’s future, though that will largely depend on how the other pitchers in the organization perform, as well as what moves the team makes this offseason. Cade Cavalli is set to be the No. 1 starter, with Andrew Alvarez — who threw seven scoreless innings Saturday — making a strong case to join him in the rotation as well. Josiah Gray, Connelly Early and DJ Herz are also candidates if healthy, as is rookie Jackson Kent.
All of those arms have a higher upside than what Irvin has shown this season, so he could find himself without a spot next season. Irvin does have minor league options remaining, but he will be in his second year of arbitration, and it’s hard to imagine the Nationals being willing to pay his salary just to have him pitch for Class AAA Rochester.
But that’s still months away. First, Irvin and the Nationals had Sunday’s game to get through.
Riley Cornelio was a starter throughout his minor league career, but his MLB debut in April came out of the bullpen. It did not go well — he was thrown into a high-leverage spot, where he allowed two runs and took the loss against the Chicago White Sox. Butera said Sunday that he regrets that decision. Now, once the Nationals have determined how they plan to use a player in the majors, they make sure he gets reps at that role in the minors before getting the call.
Cornelio has gained more experience as a reliever since his debut, and Butera said he could be in contention for a starting role in the future as well. Cornelio said all of the different roles have helped him gain confidence.
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“I think it’s just building resilience,” he said. “Going down the road, I’ll have those moments. I feel like those things happen for a reason.”
On Sunday, as Cornelio took the mound for the first inning, he looked shaky, but catcher Keibert Ruiz calmed him down, and the Angels stranded two base runners. In the second inning, Cornelio was confident and in control, setting down the side on 10 pitches. He finished with one hit and one walk allowed while striking out four.
After the offense missed out on early scoring opportunities —including coming up empty after loading the bases in the first inning — Irvin took over in the third with the game still scoreless. He allowed two solo home runs, one to Moisés Ballesteros in the fourth inning and a second to Zach Neto in the fifth.
Down 2-0, the Nationals finally got on the board in the sixth inning. CJ Abrams doubled with one out, then scored on a single from Yohandy Morales that chased Angels starter Grayson Rodriguez. Tayler Saucedo then loaded the bases on just two pitches for Brady House.
In an 0-2 count, House reached for an outside changeup and hit a tailor-made double-play ball. But second baseman Christian Moore’s relay bounced off the glove of first baseman Vaughn Grissom, and Morales tied the game.
The game remained tied until the eighth inning, when Erik Tolman took over after Irvin issued a leadoff walk to Neto. Los Angeles loaded the bases, aided by an Abrams error at short, then took the lead on a Tolman wild pitch and a Ballesteros sacrifice fly.
But the Nationals didn’t go down quietly. In the bottom of the inning, Daylen Lile crushed an RBI triple off the scoreboard in right, getting them back within a run. After Keibert Ruiz grounded out to a drawn-in Grissom, Jorbit Vivas singled to tie the game, and Jacob Young and Dylan Crews followed with RBI hits to put Washington back in front.
The Angels scored one run in the ninth off Jack Sinclair, but the Nationals held on for the win.
“Three pretty gritty wins,” Young said. “Nothing was easy about them, and we found ways to do it, which is something we’ve been preaching for a while now. Just find a way to win, and we were able to do it for three wins.”
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