WASHINGTON (AP) — Michael Soroka struck out seven in six sparkling innings, and the Washington Nationals beat Patrick Corbin and the Texas Rangers 2-0 on Friday night.
Soroka (3-3) allowed two hits and walked one. Brad Lord and Jose A. Ferrer each got three outs before Kyle Finnegan finished the two-hitter for his 18th save.
The speedy game was over in 1 hour, 50 minutes.
Adolis García singled with two outs in the fifth for Texas’ first hit. Josh Smith added a one-out single in the sixth for the Rangers in their fourth consecutive loss.
Washington took a 1-0 lead in the second when Nathaniel Lowe and Alex Call opened with back-to-back singles. Lowe went to third on a flyout and scored on a groundout by Robert Hassell III.
Call led off the seventh with his first homer of the season.
Corbin (3-5) allowed five hits in eight innings in his longest start of the season. He struck out two and walked none against his former team.
The 35-year-old Corbin, who signed with the Rangers in March, went 47-77 with a 5.11 ERA over the past six seasons with the Nationals. In 2019 he was 14-7 with a 3.25 ERA and threw three scoreless innings in relief to pick up the win in Game 7 of the World Series against the Astros.
Key moment
The Rangers put two runners on in the sixth, but Soroka escaped the jam when Marcus Semien flied out.
Key stat
Texas has lost nine of its past 10 road games overall. It has dropped six straight road series openers.
Up next
Rangers right-hander Jacob deGrom (5-2, 2.34 ERA), who has allowed two runs or fewer in nine consecutive starts, opposes left-hander Mitchell Parker (4-5, 4.71 ERA) in the middle game of the series on Saturday.
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