Corbin an ace out of bullpen

HOUSTON — Patrick Corbin knew at some point Wednesday night he’d need to be ready out of the Nationals’ bullpen. When the phone buzzed letting him know his time had arrived, the lefty, who grew up a Yankees fan and danced with them as a free agent last winter, felt calm.

cused “I felt on good, what I honestly, was doing,’’ and said foCorbin, who provided three innings of scoreless relief to help the Nationals beat the host Astros, 6-2, in Game 7 of the World Series to post the first title in the franchise’s history. After starting and losing Game 4 in Washington on Saturday, when he gave up four runs and seven hits in six innings, Corbin was a strong candidate to follow Max Scherzer, who gutted out five innings in which he allowed just two runs despite giving up seven hits and walking four. Scherzer faced eight batters with runners in scoring position and gave up one hit, an RBI single to Carlos Correa. His last batter was Robinson Chirinos and then it was time for Corbin to contribHe gave up a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Jake Marisnick to start the sixth and after striking out George Springer, Corbin fed Jose Altuve a 4--4-3 double play ball. A two-out single in the seventh didn’t lead to anything when Corbin got Yordan Alvarez on a grounder back to the mound. Corbin opened the eighth by striking out Correa. He then got Chirinos on a grounder to short and fanned Marisnick. Willing to go back out for a fourth inning Corbin took a seat in the dugout and watched Daniel Hudson record the final three outs to start a celebration that wouldn’t have been possible without his relief effort.