Boston Red Sox at Washington Nationals
· Major League Baseball5 - 4
Alex Verdugo hits leadoff homer, Red Sox beat Nationals 5-4 in series opener
Boston, which remained three games behind Toronto for the American League’s last wild-card spot, has won six of eight. The Red Sox improved to 9-1 at Nationals Park.
Stone Garrett and Keibert Ruiz each drove in two runs for the Nationals. They had won 12 of their last 14 at home.
John Schreiber (2-1) pitched a scoreless sixth inning. He was the second of five Boston relievers who combined for 4 2/3 scoreless innings.
Kenley Jansen handled the ninth for his 28th save. He has converted all 17 of his save opportunities on the road and 19 in a row overall. Chris Martin, who pitched a perfect seventh, has an 0.40 ERA in 25 appearances since June 9.
“I think there's a lot of us down there right now that are in pretty good form right now and throwing the ball really well and throwing a lot of strikes,” said reliever Josh Winckowski, who worked the eighth inning. “That's going to lead to success more often than not. We're pushing each other, and Kenley is pushing all of us with the stability that he's had.”
After Verdugo's ninth home run and second career leadoff blast, Triston Casas made it 3-0 with a two-run single in the third off Josiah Gray (7-10). Washington responded in the bottom of the inning as Ruiz and Garrett delivered two-run doubles.
The Red Sox chased Gray after Jarren Duran led off the fourth with a single and Pablo Reyes followed with a double. Duran scored on Verdugo's sacrifice fly, and Reyes came in on reliever Robert Garcia's wild pitch.
“Overall, we grinded out at bats and took our walks and we did enough to win the game,” Boston manager Alex Cora said.
Gray allowed five runs in three-plus innings, his shortest outing of the season. The Nationals' lone All-Star has not completed five innings in his last three starts, and his ERA has jumped from 3.27 to 3.96 in that span.
“There's some good starts and bad starts and OK starts,” Gray said. “The last three have been self-inflicted damage, more or less just one pitch away, but I'm not getting out of those jams. I know things will turn for me. I don't want to say it's a trend. It's just pitching.”
Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta yielded four runs in 4 1/3 innings while striking out seven.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Nationals: Washington activated RHP Hunter Harvey (elbow) from the injured list and optioned LHP Joe La Sorsa to Triple-A Rochester. Harvey pitched a 1-2-3 ninth Tuesday in his first outing since July 14. La Sorsa was 1-0 with a 6.61 ERA in 15 games with the Nationals. … RHPs Tanner Rainey (Tommy John surgery) and Mason Thompson (left knee) threw simulated games.
MAN OF STEAL
Washington SS CJ Abrams hit the 30-steal plateau with a swipe of second base in the first inning. He is the fifth National with a 30-steal season, joining Trea Turner (four times), Nyjer Morgan, Alfonso Soriano and Denard Span.
UP NEXT
Red Sox: LHP James Paxton (7-3, 3.36 ERA), who threw 5 1/3 shutout innings Thursday to beat Kansas City, draws the start Wednesday as the series continues.
Nationals: LHP MacKenzie Gore (6-9, 4.62) is 1-0 with a 1.46 ERA in his last three starts at home.
How can I watch Boston Red Sox vs. Washington Nationals?
- TV Channel: Red Sox at Nationals 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.tv.
- Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.
Matchup Prediction
Scoring Summary
9th Inning | Rutherford flied out to left. | |
9th Inning | Vargas bunt popped out to second. | |
9th Inning | Alu struck out swinging. | |
9th Inning | Jansen relieved Winckowski | |
9th Inning | Wong catching. | |
9th Inning | Verdugo grounded out to shortstop. |
Statistics
BOS | WSH | |
---|---|---|
1 | Games Played | 1 |
1 | Team Games Played | 1 |
0 | Hit By Pitch | 0 |
9 | Ground Balls | 10 |
8 | Strikeouts | 11 |
4 | Runs Batted In | 4 |
0 | Sacrifice Hit | 0 |
7 | Hits | 6 |
1 | Stolen Bases | 1 |
3 | Walks | 3 |
1 | Catcher Interference | 0 |
5 | Runs | 4 |
0 | Ground Into Double Play | 0 |
1 | Sacrifice Flies | 0 |
32 | At Bats | 33 |
1 | Home Runs | 0 |
0 | Grand Slam Home Runs | 0 |
9 | Runners Left On Base | 12 |
0 | Triples | 0 |
0 | Game Winning RBIs | 0 |
0 | Intentional Walks | 0 |
1 | Doubles | 4 |
16 | Fly Balls | 12 |
0 | Caught Stealing | 0 |
148 | Pitches | 146 |
0 | Games Started | 0 |
0 | Pinch At Bats | 0 |
0 | Pinch Hits | 0 |
0.0 | Player Rating | 0.0 |
1 | Is Qualified | 1 |
1 | Is Qualified In Steals | 1 |
11 | Total Bases | 10 |
37 | Plate Appearances | 36 |
162.0 | Projected Home Runs | 0.0 |
2 | Extra Base Hits | 4 |
3.5 | Runs Created | 2.7 |
.219 | Batting Average | .182 |
.000 | Pinch Hit Average | .000 |
.344 | Slugging Percentage | .303 |
.250 | Secondary Average | .242 |
.278 | On Base Percentage | .250 |
.622 | OBP Pct + SLG Pct | .553 |
0.6 | Ground To Fly Ball Ratio | 0.8 |
3.7 | Runs Created Per 27 Outs | 2.7 |
31.0 | Batter Rating | 31.0 |
32.0 | At Bats Per Home Run | 0.0 |
1.00 | Stolen Base Percentage | 1.00 |
4.00 | Pitches Per Plate Appearance | 4.06 |
.125 | Isolated Power | .121 |
0.38 | Walk To Strikeout Ratio | 0.27 |
.081 | Walks Per Plate Appearance | .083 |
.031 | Secondary Average Minus Batting Average | .061 |
9.0 | Runs Produced | 8.0 |
0.8 | Runs Ratio | 1.0 |
0.4 | Patience Ratio | 0.4 |
0.3 | Balls In Play Average | 0.3 |
79.0 | MLB Rating | 74.5 |
0.0 | Offensive Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
0.0 | Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
Game Information
Location: Washington, District of Columbia
Attendance: 23,516 | Capacity:
2024 American League East Standings
TEAM | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York | 94 | 68 | .580 | - | W1 |
Baltimore | 91 | 71 | .562 | 3 | W3 |
Boston | 81 | 81 | .500 | 13 | W1 |
Tampa Bay | 80 | 82 | .494 | 14 | L1 |
Toronto | 74 | 88 | .457 | 20 | L3 |
2024 National League East Standings
TEAM | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Philadelphia | 95 | 67 | .586 | - | W1 |
Atlanta | 89 | 73 | .549 | 6 | W1 |
New York | 89 | 73 | .549 | 6 | L1 |
Washington | 71 | 91 | .438 | 24 | L1 |
Miami | 62 | 100 | .383 | 33 | W4 |