The Washington Post - USA (2022-05-27)

FRIDAY, MAY 27 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 D3

ager Dave Martinez said. “He keeps the ball on the ground like that, w e’ll win s ome games behind him. And we scored some runs for him today.” Here’s what else to know about the Nationals’ win:

Big first inning How did the Nationals fare against Germán Márquez for the second time? Good enough, thanks to that first inning. In the Nationals’ previous outing against Márquez on May 3 in Denver, they scored seven runs against him over five innings of a 10-2 victory. The Nationals picked up where they left off in the first inning Thursday, with Cruz push- ing home the first run with an RBI single. He went 1 for 3 and has 12 hits during a seven-game hitting streak. Bell, who hadn’t recorded an extra-base hit since May 7, followed with a double off the center field wall to push the lead to 2-0. Hernandez drove in two more with a double to right-center. After the first inning, Márquez kept t he Nationals off balance a nd allowed just one more run before exiting after six innings: César Hernández’s RBI double off the right field wall scored Victor Rob- les in the fourth. The Nationals tacked on insur- ance runs in the seventh and the eighth to put the game out of reach.

Corbin had done that three times.
On Thursday, the 32-year-old
did it again, allowing three runs
and seven hits on an efficient
80 pitches. In four innings, he
threw 11 or fewer.
“Just trying to make quality
pitches,” he said. “Felt really good,
got ahead of them, threw a bunch
of sliders today that were good, so
pleased with everything.”
Corbin’s longest outing of the
season came at the Rockies on
May 4, an eight-inning complete
game when he threw 70 of his
94 pitches for strikes but gave up
five runs (three earned) thanks to
some shoddy defense in a 5 -2 loss.
This time, he was efficient and
avoided giving away the lead after
the Nationals (16-30) jumped
ahead 4-0 in the first inning on an
RBI single by Nelson Cruz, an RBI
double by Josh Bell and a two-run
double by Yadiel Hernandez.
“I think that we got to a point
where we’re like, ‘When are we
going to do this for him?’ ” Bell said
of getting Corbin his first win. “The
last few starts, he’s been lights out.
So finally got that monkey off the
back, and hopefully we can contin-
ue to roll with him.”
The Rockies (20-24) cut into
their deficit when Brendan Rogers
doubled to open the second inning.
After a wild pitch moved him to
third, Rogers scored on a José Igle-
sias infield single.
The next inning, Corbin walked
Yonathan Daza with one out, then
hurled a first-pitch, middle-cut
slider to Charlie Blackmon, who
ripped the ball down the right field
line. It turned into an RBI triple
when Juan Soto had trouble get-
ting to the ball in the corner. Black-
mon scored on a C.J. Cron ground-
out, trimming the Nationals’ lead
to 4-3.
But Corbin settled down by re-
tiring the side in order in the
fourth. Even when his defense
didn’t help him with an error —
and turned in a second play that
should have been ruled one — in
the fifth, he got a double play to
work around the trouble. A five-
pitch sixth allowed him to come
out for the seventh, when he retired
one batter before an Elias Díaz
single ended his solid outing. Vic-
tor Arano, Ta nner Rainey and Steve
Cishek handled things from there.
Corbin continued to keep the
ball down in the strike zone to
produce groundballs — 10 of his 19
outs were the result of ground-
balls, a sign he’s sticking to the
game plan.
“He’s been pitching well,” Man-

NATIONALS FROM D1

Corbin’s strong outing equals first win

JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST Patrick Corbin allowed three runs and seven hits on 80 pitches, then was backed by the Nats’ bullpen.

BY ANDREW GOLDEN

Joe Ross hit another bump in the road on his return to the Washington Nationals. An MRI exam Wednesday fol- lowing a rehab assignment the night before revealed more of a sprain in the right-hander’s elbow than previous imaging had. Ross plans to get a few more tests before determining his next steps, but he didn’t sound encouraged by the situation. “Definitely frustrated, just the combination of missing the last five or so weeks last year, then going through all the rehab and going through all the stuff starting from Day One of the offsea- son,” Ross said before Thursday’s game against the Colorado Rock- ies at Nationals Park. “A nd then, obviously, staying down in Flori- da and then watching how the season has been going here so far.” Neither Ross nor Manager Dave Martinez said how long he expects Ross to be sidelined, but Martinez said Ross had “a long road ahead of him.” “To know what he went through once and having him this close to coming back and being ready and something happened again, it’s frustrating. It’s tough,” Martinez said. “A s soon as we can get him to understand what needs to transpire, the next thing is to just be there for him as much as we possibly can.” Ross’s elbow issue is the latest development in a career plagued by arm injuries. He had To mmy John surgery in July 2017 after tearing his ulnar collateral liga- ment; he missed the rest of that season and most of 2018, making just three starts. Last year, the 29-year-old was ruled out for the season in August after partially tearing the UCL, but he avoided a second To mmy John surgery — at least so far. He had a bone spur removed from the elbow in March, and he has slowly worked his way back by training alongside Stephen Strasburg at the Nationals’ spring training facility in West Palm Beach, Fla. Both pitchers made rehab starts Tuesday, with Ross throw- ing at Class AA Harrisburg after

Martinez characterized him as further along than Strasburg, who pitched for low Class A Fred- ericksburg. The first two innings went smoothly for Ross as he touched 95 mph, but in the third he started to feel tightness in his elbow and his velocity dropped. Ross said he’s still sore and lack- ing some range of motion; he’s scheduled for more tests Friday. Ross said it has been hard to root for the team from a distance while not being able to contribute to a pitching staff that has strug- gled. Entering Thursday, Washing- ton’s starting pitching ERA was 5.76, second worst in the majors behind the Cincinnati Reds (6.67). “Obviously, I’d like to provide some assistance.... Me and Ste- phen, hopefully at the same time, would have been nice,” Ross said. “So definitely frustrating to go through all that and not be able to assist in the way I would have liked or at least I was planning on.” In parts of six seasons with the Nationals, Ross is 26-28, with a 4.26 ERA and 403 strikeouts in 4431 / 3 innings. He was part of the Nationals’ 2019 World Series championship team, pitching in two games — including a spot start for Max Scherzer in Game 5.

MRI exam shows sprain

in Ross’s elbow is worse

NATIONALS ON DECK

vs. C olorado Rockies

Today7:05MASN Tomorrow 4:05 MASN2

Sunday1:35MASN2

at New York Mets

Monday7:10MASN

Tuesday7:10MASN Wednesday1:10MASN

at Cincinnati Reds

Thursday6:40MASN June 36 :40MASN

June 44 :10MASN June 51 :40MASN

Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM)

Changes in the roster Major League Baseball in- formed teams T hursday that they will be allowed to carry 14 pitchers on their roster until June 19. Previously, the plan was to have a 13-pitcher limit starting May 30. (Before that, it was May 2.) Marti-

Nationals 7, Rockies 3 ROCKIES AB RHBI BB SO AVG Joe lf............................... 401002 .280 Daza cf............................ 312010 .364 Blackmon dh................... 411100 .221 Cron 1b........................... 300110 .308 McMahon 3b................... 400001 .255 Rodgers 2b..................... 411000 .242 Grichuk rf....................... 400001 .273 Iglesias ss...................... 401100 .307 Díaz c.............................. 402000 .214 TOTALS 34 38 324 — NATIONALS AB RHBI BB SO AVG Hernández 2b................. 422110 .279 Ruiz c.............................. 411000 .282 Soto rf............................ 300010 .232 Cruz dh........................... 311111 .229 Bell 1b............................ 311200 .296 Hernandez lf................... 301210 .309 Thomas lf....................... 000000 .205 Franco 3b........................ 300012 .253 Strange-Gordon ss......... 412000 .283 Robles cf......................... 411100 .228 TOTALS 31 79 753 — COLORADO............. 012 000 000 —381 WASHINGTON........ 400 100 11X —792 E: McMahon (9), Bell (3), Strange-Gordon (2). LOB: Col- orado 6, Washington 7. 2B: Daza (3), Rodgers (8), Bell (8), Hernandez (9), Hernández (11). 3B: Blackmon (1), Strange-Gordon (1). RBI: Iglesias (13), Blackmon (18), Cron (34), Cruz (24), Bell 2 (25), Hernandez 2 (22), Hernández (11), Robles (13). SB: Strange-Gordon (1), Iglesias (2). SF: Bell. S: Ruiz. ROCKIES IP HRER BB SO NP ERA Márquez ...................... 665532104 6.30 Blach............................ 111120 17 5.26 Chacín.......................... 121101 12 6.95 NATIONALS IP HRER BB SO NP ERA Corbin ....................... 61 / 3 73323 80 6.30 Arano..........................^2 / 3 10000 84.34 Rainey.......................... 100001 15 2.63 Cishek.......................... 100000 10 4.76 WP: Corbin (1-7); LP: Márquez (1-5). Inherited runners- scored: Arano 1-0. WP: Corbin. T: 2:40. A: 16,264 (41,339).

nez said the Nationals were planning ahead as the old deadline neared, but he is glad to have the extension, given how much he has had to ask of his bullpen. “I think it was a good decision,” he said. “I think they actually took [a look at] what was going on throughout the league and decid- ed some more time definitely will help. So for us, I thought it was a really good thing.”

HOW THEY SCORED NATIONALS FIRST Cesar Hernandez walks. Keibert Ruiz singles. Cesar Hernandez to second. Juan Soto lines out. Nelson Cruz singles, Keibert Ruiz to second, Cesar Hernandez scores. Josh Bell doubles, Nelson Cruz to third, Keibert Ruiz scores. Yadiel Hernandez doubles, Josh Bell scores, Nelson Cruz scores. Maikel Franco walks. Dee Strange-Gordon reaches on a fielder’s choice. Maikel Franco out at second. Yadiel Hernandez to third. Victor Robles grounds out. Nationals 4, Rockies 0 ROCKIES SECOND Brendan Rodgers doubles. Randal Grichuk grounds out. Jose Iglesias singles, Brendan Rodgers scores. Elias Diaz grounds out. Jose Iglesias out at second. Nationals 4, Rockies 1 ROCKIES THIRD Connor Joe flies out. Yonathan Daza walks. Charlie Blackmon triples, Yonathan Daza scores. C.J. Cron grounds out, Charlie Blackmon scores. Ryan McMahon grounds out. Nationals 4, Rockies 3 NATIONALS FOURTH Dee Strange-Gordon singles. Victor Robles reaches on a fielder’s choice. Dee Strange-Gordon out at second. Ce- sar Hernandez doubles, Victor Robles scores. Keibert Ruiz flies out. Cesar Hernandez to third. Juan Soto flies out. Nationals 5, Rockies 3 NATIONALS SEVENTH Cesar Hernandez singles. Keibert Ruiz out on a sacrifice bunt. Cesar Hernandez to second. Juan Soto walks. Nel- son Cruz walks. Juan Soto to second. Cesar Hernandez to third. Josh Bell out on a sacrifice fly, Juan Soto to third, Cesar Hernandez scores. Yadiel Hernandez grounds out. Nationals 6, Rockies 3 NATIONALS EIGHTH Maikel Franco strikes out swinging. Dee Strange-Gor- don triple. Victor Robles singles, Dee Strange-Gordon scores. Cesar Hernandez lines out. Keibert Ruiz flies out. Nationals 7, Rockies 3

out of favor with the coaching staff. With his contract expiring this summer, he was free to pur- sue other opportunities. United agreed to pay him $7 million over three seasons — the richest deal on the team — but because he remained tied to Rapid Vienna, he wasn’t scheduled to make his MLS debut until July 8 at Phila- delphia. Fountas, though, was eager to join as soon as possible. He even agreed to contribute to the trans- fer fee that would free him from Rapid Vienna. All along, his rela- tionship with the Austrian club deteriorated, and after the club agreed to let him go early, team officials ripped their former player in a blunt news release an- nouncing his departure. “He would have been... fondly remembered, but unfortunately his behavior in recent weeks has left a very stale aftertaste,” sport- ing director Zoran Barisic said in the release. Fountas moved with his wife, Marina, and 2-year-old son, Ta xi Jr., to the D.C. area — his first time in the United States. “I always wanted to come to America,” he said through the interpreter. “I had seen it in famous movies. It seemed like a fantasyland. The big countries, you see and read about. In small villages, in Greece, America is very different than what it’s r eally like.” When asked his favorite Amer- ican movie, he understands per- fectly, smiling broadly before an- swering, “Fast & Furious.” In Greek, he says he has seen every sequel in the franchise except the latest. Aside from his integration with United, Fountas has gained comfort from the small Greek- speaking community in the area, making friends at a Greek restau- rant and with an employee at the Audi dealership. “To cross the Atlantic, I had never done that before,” he said. “I’ve done it, and I love everything about America. I am getting acclimated and love everything I am seeing and doing.”

Asked about his favorite player when he was younger, he quickly answered, “Messi.” Asked whether he would tattoo his right leg, like much of the rest of his body, he said in English: “Maybe. I don’t know. But I like tattoos.” (His favorites: three li- ons on his back, symbolizing his family, and the Batman symbol on his left leg.) Fountas has bonded perhaps the most with Smith, an Austral- ian who doesn’t know a lick of Greek or German. “He taught me some bad words in Greek,” Smith said, grinning. “With soccer, it’s a universal language,” Smith added. “Every- one knows how to play at the professional level, so you can do things that everyone understands, even with the language barrier. There are a bunch of languages here, but we all speak the ‘football’ language.” Fountas’s link with teammates and coaches has strengthened team culture and camaraderie, coaches and players said. “Taxi’s awesome. He really is,” goalkeeper Jon Kempin said. “He doesn’t speak too much English, but he is a little bit of a jokester. The little English he knows, he is always smiling, always laughing. That’s the positive energy our team needs in the locker room, and then he goes out on the field and works his butt off.” Fountas grew up in Mesolongi, a town of 35,000 on the Gulf of Patras in western Greece. His father worked for a company that manufactures cosmetics sup- plies. His mother tended to a small olive business. Two older brothers played soccer at low levels. Fountas’s career path took him from one of Greece’s famous clubs, AEK Athens, to teams in Austria, Germany and elsewhere in Greece. His big move came in 2019, when he joined Rapid Vien- na. In his first season, he scored 19 goals in 27 league matches and finished third in the scoring race. His production cooled some the subsequent two seasons, and by this past winter, he had fallen

contacted Fountas via Instagram to make him feel welcome to his new club. Canouse followed suit. “I asked him what language he preferred: German or English?” Gressel said. “He said: ‘My Ger- man isn’t v ery good. My E nglish is terrible. So let’s do German.’ I certainly couldn’t do Greek.” When Fountas doesn’t understand coaching instruction or player conversation at United’s training facility, he turns to Gres- sel or Canouse. Fountas does understand a lot of English; he just is not comfortable speaking it. In an interview this week, he had an interpreter by his side but didn’t need help with some ques- tions.

ful. It was all about helping the team as a whole rise together.” Beyond the production, his connectivity with teammates off the field is what has stood out. And he has made those connec- tions with limited English and no Spanish, United’s prominent tongues. He does speak German, learned from years playing in Austria and Germany. Two other United players are fluent: wing back Julian Gressel, who is from Germany, and defensive mid- fielder Russell Canouse, an Amer- ican who began his career in Germany. When United signed Fountas in January, Gressel proactively

a precontract, a mechanism unique to soccer that allows players to find a new home within six months of their current deal expiring. Both he and United, though, were eager to begin their rela- tionship sooner. So over the next two months, a deal was reached with Rapid Vienna that allowed him to leave early. The impact on United’s attack has been unmis- takable. “Coming into the team, they all really made me feel welcome,” Fountas said. “I don’t really see myself as being big and success-

BY STEVEN GOFF

Somewhere in Loudoun Coun-
ty, a turtle has joined the growing
legions of Taxiarchis Fountas
fans.
Two weeks ago, D.C. United’s
new arrival — and immediately
its best and, by virtue, most popu-
lar player — was driving his red
Audi on a back road near the
club’s training center in Lees-
burg.
As he approached a crossing
for the Washington & Old Domin-
ion Trail, Fountas noticed a turtle
dangerously close to the road. He
hopped out of his car and lifted
the small terrapin by its shell to
grassy safety.
Unbeknown to him, his pas-
senger, communications manag-
er Sam Legg, captured the epi-
sode on video and posted it on
Twitter to whimsical music.
“I had to make sure no one ran
it over,” Fountas said this week
through an interpreter, beaming
a smile that has endeared him to
seemingly everyone in the MLS
organization.
“I don’t know where he is now,
but I love animals.”
Since joining United in early
April, the Greek forward, who is
known as Ta xi, has done a lot.
Why not rescue a wayward turtle,
too?
Amid a difficult spring, when
defeats have outpaced victories
and the coach was abruptly fired
after just six matches, Fountas
has brought fresh hope with an
infectious personality and im-
pact performances. He has had a
hand in United’s past nine goals,
scoring five, assisting three and
playing a key role on the other
one.
“When he first came in, we saw
him do a couple [of training]
sessions,” wing back Brad Smith
said. “You could tell straightaway
he was a great player. So it was
just a matter of him getting com-
fortable. It’s been a great start for
him.”
Fountas, 26, was not supposed
to join United until July. Over the
winter, while still a member of
Austria’s Rapid Vienna, he signed

D.C. United has its own hero of the half shell

Since his earlier-than-expected arrival from A ustria, fan-favorite Fountas has s aved the struggling club’s attack — and a turtle along the way

KATHERINE FREY/THE WASHINGTON POST T axiarchis Fountas has five goals and three assists in seven games since he arrived from Austria.

D.C. United at Red Bulls Tomorrow, 7 p.m., NBCSW

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