Braves continue to haunt Blue Jays' Patrick Corbin

Already proving to be one of the top unsung MLB free-agent signings, Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Patrick Corbin failed to evade personal history.

Entering Wednesday night's start at Truist Park, Corbin, who signed with the Blue Jays on April 3 to reinforce a struggling rotation, yielded three or fewer runs during nine consecutive starts.

His streak ended against the Atlanta Braves, who earned a 7-3 victory. 

Of course, Corbin struggled against the Braves, yielding four earned runs on six hits in five innings. Doesn't the 36-year-old left-hander always struggle against the Braves? Seems like it.

Including his time with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Washington Nationals, Corbin faced the Braves for the 24th time in his career, dropping 14 of 19 decisions.

Blue Jays' Patrick Corbin keeping rotation afloat

Where would the Blue Jays be without Corbin, who is pitching on a one-year, $946,524 deal? Despite falling to 29-33, they remained tied with the Baltimore Orioles, 1.5 games out of the AL Wild Card chase. 

Corbin has been a major reason the Blue Jays have remained in contention, despite a starting rotation in flux.

Jose Berrios is lost for the season following Tommy John surgery.

Former Cy Young award recipient Shane Bieber (elbow) has yet to major-league game this season, but made a rehab start for th Single-A Dunedin on Sunday.

Max Scherzer, who had a 9.64 earned-run average in five starts before landing on the injured list.

Eric Lauer opened the season 1-5 with a 6.69 ERA and was unceremoniously released.

Seeking a veteran, the Blue Jays took a flyer on Corbin, who mostly struggled with his WAR ratings the previous five seasons:

Season, WAR rating, Inning pitched

• 2021, -1.2, 171.2
• 2022, -2.3, 152.2
• 2023, 0.3, 180
• 2024, -0.8, 174.2
• 2025, -0.4, 155.1

In 2026, Corbin posted a 1.2 WAR, his best mark since 2019.

Corbin just needs to keep clear of the Braves.

Suffering the loss Wednesday, Corbin (2-2) made a mistake against Mauricio Dubon in the third inning while leading 2-1. With two out and runners on second and third, Dubon connected on a three-run home run, which proved to be the game-winning hit.

Corbin may be developing into one of the best free-agent stories this season, but he can't seem to escape his personal history versus his old nemesis.

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