Washington nationals of the Boston Red Sox: big success Vázquez

The Red Sox offensive is stagnating. Very, very stagnant. Despite that, they managed to clinch a victory on Friday thanks to a timely three-point shot from Hunter Renfore and a solo home run from Bobby Dalbec. More of the same kind of stick silence occurred from the Red Sox offensively in Game 2 of the series through the ninth inning.

The Red Sox could not legitimately have asked for a better start than the one Tanner Houck gave on Saturday. He was perfect, and that’s no exaggeration. Houck pitched five perfect innings of baseball, striking out all 15 batters he faced while striking out eight of them. The most impressive aspect of his start was that he mixed extremely well in his splitter, even getting wobbles and duds. The biggest complaint we’ve ever had with Houck was his inability to mix in a third pitch. With a third step, the ceiling gets so much higher.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox’s only attack in the first eight innings was a solo explosion from Rafael Devers. They had multiple opportunities throughout the game which was wasted, of course. Kyle Schwarber doubled up in the first set for starter Josiah Gray and secured third place on wild ground before Xander Bogaerts stepped in, but all scoring chances were immediately extinguished by a hard-hit double play from Devers.

Photo by Billie Weiss / Boston Red Sox / Getty Images

Gray, a big part of the deal that sent Trea Turner and Max Scherzer to the Dodgers, proved why he’s a much-vaunted prospect. The right-hander finished with six innings, three hits, one earned run, two walks and seven strikeouts. The only flaw of his day was Devers’ solo home run. With both starters doing an excellent job for their teams, the game was officially in the hands of the relievers.

Ryan Braiser threw a very big seventh inning, replacing Garrett Richards who threw a scoreless sixth inning. The seventh round wasn’t the best for Brasier, but it got the job done. It had been used in the previous four games so it was questionable to see it in Saturday’s game. Brasier sent Alcides Escobar flying to the right and followed it with a massive strikeout from Juan Soto. Josh Bell scored a single on a rather unimpressive hit to Xander Bogaerts, Keibert Ruíz walked and Andrew Stevenson scored to charge the goals. It was a big point, but Jordy Mercer came down swinging – on ground that was a hit, but Mercer disagreed and was thrown – and the extremely excited Brasier hit his chest three or so. four times to end the round.

The Nationals scored their first point in the bottom of the eighth, which was a really disappointing end for Adam Ottavino and the Red Sox defense. Ottavino stepped into the eight and immediately pulled out Carter Kieboom on strikes, then left a questionable brace (to put it mildly) for Ryan Zimmerman that could easily have been a mistake on center fielder Hunter Renfore. It was a routine flying ball, but Renfroe lost it in the lights to drop it. Ottavino then marched Lane Thomas and Alcides Escobar to load the bases before being shot for Austin Davis. Davis’ left-handed / left-handed clash and arguably best baseball player Juan Soto, what could go wrong? Fortunately, Davis was able to limit Soto to a sacrifice fly, and after Josh Bell lined up with Xander Bogaerts to end the set, the game was tied.

The Red Sox then had their big breakthrough early in the ninth inning. JD Martinez started the round with one goal on 10 balls and José Iglesias entered the match to run. Alex Verdugo and Hunter Renfroe pulled out sticks, leaving the choice to Christian Vázquez, who has undoubtedly had a declining attacking season. But this time he came overwhelmingly with a triple over Soto’s header to the left to score Iglesias. Travis Shaw stayed the course with a single for Vázquez to make it 3-1. The Nationals brought in Mason Thompson to face Kiké Hernández, who quickly greeted him with a home run. The Red Sox take a 5-1 lead.

The Red Sox couldn’t make it an easy win, of course. Davis, after replacing Adam Ottavino in the eighth inning, stayed on to pitch the ninth. He walked Keibert Ruíz, then Andrew Stevenson smashed his fifth home run of the season down center left to bring the score to 5-3 for the Red Sox. Alex Cora went to the bullpen again to bring in Hansel Robles, another overworked piece of bullpen. Robles got pinch hitter Yadiel Hernández to fly, then Carter Kieboom on strikes. Ryan Zimmerman kept the inning alive with a walk, but luckily Robles managed to get Lane Thomas to fly to Renfroe to end the game. The Red Sox win 5-3.

The victory pushed the Red Sox record to 91-70. The Yankees, meanwhile, were absolutely beaten by the Rays on Saturday, 12-2. With the win, the Red Sox and Yankees have exactly the same 91-70 record. With a win tomorrow, the Red Sox will automatically claim the top wildcard position, regardless of a Yankees victory through Boston winning the season series 10-9. The Blue Jays, for their part, stayed alive with a win over Baltimore, with Seattle playing later tonight needing a win to stay alive.

BOX