Boston Red Sox Washington Nationals: one to lose, two to play

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The Orioles series was a disaster. No one can reasonably deny that. But what’s done is done, and all that’s left is for the Red Sox to take care of business in Washington. Swipe up and you get at least a 163 match. They did what they needed to do on Friday. Things were very frustrating at first, but Eduardo Rodriguez managed to get out of big traffic jams and the offense finally broke through with four runs on back-to-back home runs from Hunter Renfroe and Bobby Dalbec. These four runs would be sufficient because the bullpen folded but did not break an important victory.

I feel like I watched the same start of every game this week, with special little twists that make it especially hard to watch. The starting pitcher gets the job done, which, considering how this team is built, should lead to a win. This is especially true against the types of pitchers they’ve encountered. But the offense continues to struggle, and it’s an evil combination of skinny contact, bad batting, and listless play in general.

In it, they faced another soft-throw southpaw, the sixth straight game in which that was the case. And as they have been doing throughout this streak, they just haven’t organized any rallies. The first four runs were really nothing out of the norm compared to what we’ve seen this whole stretch. Boston put a runner in each of those innings, but neither of them was able to advance beyond first base.

Meanwhile, what could very well be his last appearance in a Red Sox uniform, Rodriguez did the job of keeping points off the board, although it wasn’t as dominant as we’ve seen from some. other starters recently. In fact, he got into trouble right away in the first inning when he allowed a brace early in the game, but he didn’t give up anything other than an unintentional intentional walk to Juan Soto to get out of the frame unscathed. . Rodriguez was much better over the next two runs, scoring perfect runs in each.

That brings us to the bottom of the fourth, which has been a really big moment in this game. Rodriguez had some big trouble in this one, giving Soto a step ahead before dropping back-to-back singles to charge the goals with no one out. In a scoreless game, it seemed certain to lead to a lead for the Nationals. But to the left-hander’s credit, he got away with it. Rodriguez struck out Jordy Mercer on strikes and got a Carter Kieboom pop-up for the first two strikeouts. After that, Andrew Stevenson hit a tapper on the right side. Kiké Hernández, who started with second goal in this one, was playing but made a spectacular play, entering the ball with his bare hands and exiting the final. Somehow the game was still scoreless after four.

The breakout provided a very real chance for the Red Sox’s offense to grab some momentum here and take the lead, and Christian Vázquez started things off well with a single. This brought Rodriguez to the plate, forced into an offensive rule thanks to the National League still playing as if it was 1948. Rodriguez tried to get arrested, but made it appear. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he didn’t come out of the box at all, so Nationals pitcher Josh Rogers made a smart play to drop the ball, resulting in a huge double play. Hernández would make a goal. on balls to give Boston its first inning with multiple baserunners, but still with no one advancing beyond first base.

Rodriguez came back to fifth and had another great moment, working around a two-out single as he took out Soto, who could be the best hitter on the planet. And then in the sixth, Boston finally got their first runner in scoring position after singles from Xander Bogaerts and JD Martinez.

And it seemed like that was what it took to get them out of their funk, for a round at least. With two men, Hunter Renfroe stepped in and, in a 2-2 count, he punished a fastball left just over the plate. He was crushed in the left center of the field for a three-point shot, breaking the tie without a goal. And just for good measure, Bobby Dalbec took a hanging slider on the first pitch in the next at bat and sent it out for a solo homerun, making it a 4-0 game.

Rodriguez came back to start the bottom half of the sixth after finishing the top half at home, and immediately got into trouble with a walk and a single. Without anyone, Alex Cora stepped out and finished the evening, possibly the last time Rodriguez will step out of the mound in a Red Sox uniform. Like I said above, it wasn’t a dominant start, and he needed Ryan Brasier’s help to keep him on a scoreless outing. Brasier obliged, getting a ball on the ground and then two strikeouts to keep the score 4-0 at six.

It was still the score as we entered the bottom of the seventh, and Matt Barnes came on for Boston. He started well with two quick strikeouts, but then failed to make a 2-2 quickball high enough and Alcides Escobar hit a solo to reduce the Red Sox’s lead to three. Darwinzon Hernandez came to finish things off, but he would walk Soto before dropping a single to Josh Bell. With JD Martinez in right field for this one, he threw a strike on third base to reduce Soto and end the inning on a big defensive play.

For the eighth, the Red Sox called on Adam Ottavino to protect the three-point lead. He’s been having some unusual home run issues lately, and they straightened out again when he gave up a solo shot to Jordy Mercer. With two outs, he would also give up a two-out double to Andrew Stevenson, bringing Nats legend Ryan Zimmerman to home plate as a pinch hitter representing the even-run. Ottavino won the battle, getting a big strikeout to keep the lead at two.

That just left things up to Hansel Robles in ninth, with the Nationals sending the top of their order. He got the first two hitters past Soto, then appeared to have pulled the star out on strikes, except Christian Vázquez couldn’t get a bad shot. Robles walked Soto onto the next lot, then followed him another step up to Bell. Suddenly the equalizer was on base and the winning point was at home in the form of Keibert Ruiz with two outs. But Robles managed to walk a tightrope, forcing Ruiz to exit to the right to end it.

The 4-2 victory pushed the Red Sox record to 90-70. As of this writing, the Yankees are lagging behind against the Rays. If this score holds, Boston will move within one game of this first place. Toronto, meanwhile, took care of its own business against Baltimore to stay one game behind the Red Sox. The Mariners started the day tied with Boston and have just started their game against the Angels.

The Red Sox and Nationals return to the field tomorrow afternoon at 4:05 p.m. ET. Josiah Gray is going for Washington, while the Red Sox have yet to announce their starter as of this writing.

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