Breakout lefty Patrick Corbin will wrap up a standout second major league season on Friday night when the Arizona Diamondbacks host the Washington Nationals to open a three-game weekend series at Chase Field.
The 24-year-old Corbin was 6-8 with a save in 22 appearances with the Diamondbacks in his rookie season of 2012 and won 13 of his initial 16 decisions this year through an Aug. 20 defeat of Cincinnati.
Corbin has skidded since, losing four of five decisions in six starts, including a 9-3 defeat by the Los Angeles Dodgers in which he allowed six runs on seven hits in just two innings.
His last outing came Sept. 22 in Colorado and resulted in a no-decision after he was strafed for 10 hits and four runs in 4 1/3 innings of work.
In two lifetime meetings with the Nationals, Corbin is 1-0 with a 2.57 earned run average in 14 innings.
He faces Washington's Stephen Strasburg, who's not lost in eight starts since late July.
A 5-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers on July 30 dropped Strasburg - a former No. 1 overall draft pick - to 5-9 on the year, but the 25-year-old has since gone 2-0 in eight starts while his ERA has nearly stayed put from 3.04 to 3.02.
Strasburg has defeated Philadelphia and Miami in the stretch and has allowed more than three runs just once while pitching at least six innings in six of the eight outings.
He is 1-0 in three career starts against the Diamondbacks with a 2.00 ERA in 18 innings.
On Thursday in San Diego, Alexi Amarista drove in the winning run in the 11th inning as the Padres took a 3-2 win over the Diamondbacks in the finale of a four-game series.
With Josh Collmenter (5-5) on the mound, Tommy Medica singled, Jesus Guzman hit a ground-rule double and Nick Hundley was intentionally walked to load the bases. Amarista then punched a single to center to plate the winning run.
Martin Prado hit a two-run home run to account for the offense for the Diamondbacks, who have lost five of their last eight games. Trevor Cahill was charged with two runs and five hits over 5 2/3 innings in the start.
On Wednesday in St. Louis, Shelby Miller gave up one run over six-plus innings and the Cardinals inched closer to their first NL Central title since 2009 with a 4-1 victory over the Nationals.
Miller (15-9) allowed four hits while striking out three and walking three for the Cardinals, who went 6-0 against Washington this season.
Bryce Harper drove in the lone run for the Nationals, who saw starter Jordan Zimmermann (19-9) give up four runs on six hits over seven innings.
The Nationals won two of three from Arizona when the teams last played in June. Washington won four of six games in the 2012 season series.
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