Nationals - 010 060 000 - 7 10 3 Red Sox - 022 100 30x - 8 11 1After blowing a 5-1 lead, the Red Sox rallied to win - with some serious assistance from the Nationals - by scoring three times in the seventh inning without the benefit of a hit.
Koji Uehara made his season debut, striking out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth.
Washington committed three errors in the seventh, including two errors on one play by pitcher Blake Treinen. The rally began when shortstop Ian Desmond botched Hanley Ramirez's ground ball and was awarded his sixth error of the young season. Pitcher Craig Stammen hit Shave Victorino in the left shoulder. After Mike Napoli flied to right, Nats manager Matt Williams brought in Treinen.
Before facing pinch-hitter Allen Craig, Treinen made a demonstrative show of faith, removing his cap, placing it over his heart and pointing theatrically to the heavens. His God must have had His back turned at that moment, because Treinen's outing was an utter nightmare. He hit Craig with his first pitch, loading the bases. Then Ryan Hanigan tapped his second pitch to the third base side of the mound. Treinen came in and bobbled the easy grounder, then threw it wildly past the plate. He was charged with two errors on the play - and two Boston runs scored, tying the game at 7-7.
On Treinen's third pitch, Brock Holt grounded to shortstop - and Desmond screwed up yet again. He did not throw home, though he likely had a play on Craig. He looked to third base (?) and chose to throw to first. He got the out, but the go-ahead run scored for Boston.
It was the first time since August 25, 2001 that the Red Sox scored as many as three runs in an inning without the benefit of a hit. ... According to Elias, Boston is the first team in the expansion era (since 1961) to score three or more runs in an inning with no hits and no walks.
Edward Mujica, who pitched a perfect seventh, recorded the first out in the eighth. Junichi Tazawa came in and allowed a two-out single to Yunel Escobar, but struck out Jayson Werth to end the inning. In the ninth, Uehara fanned Bryce Harper for the first out. Ryan Zimmerman crushed a long foul ball that sailed to the left of the Fisk Pole - Williams challenged the call, but it was upheld - before lining to Craig in left. Uehara struck out Clint Robinson to end the game.
Boston battered Strasburg (5.1-10-5-0-5, 109) in the early innings. With Napoli and Holt on base in the second, Mookie Betts ripped a double into the left-field corner and Boston led 2-0. Daniel Nava and Hanigan hit back-to-back run-scoring singles in the third and Dustin Pedroia hit his third home run of the season in the fourth.
Masterson (4.2-8-7-3-4, 93) allowed five of the Nationals' first nine batters to reach base. He then settled down a bit, retiring six in a row into the fourth inning, before giving up two two-out singles. The wheels fell completely off in the fifth. With one out, he hit Werth on a 3-0 pitch. Harper singled to left, Zimmerman walked, and Robinson knocked in a run with a single. Wilson Ramos's groundout scored another run and Desmond's hard single to right brought home two more, tying the score at 5-5. After Masterson plunked Danny Espinosa, he was pulled. Alexi Ogando allowed a two-run double to Michael Taylor, giving Washington a 7-5 lead.
Boston went down in order in the fifth and stranded two men in the sixth before Washington gift-wrapped a three-run rally that helped the Red Sox raise their record to 6-2.
Pablo Sandoval fouled a ball of his left foot in the third inning and left the game in the sixth. ... Pedroia singled twice, homered, and walked. ... Holt had two hits; he is now 7-for-11 this year. ... Napoli and Ramirez scored two runs each.
Betts, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, LF
Sandoval, 3B
Napoli, 1B
Nava, RF
Hanigan, C
Holt, SS
2 comments:
Alex Speier:
"Betts became just the 13th player for the Red Sox and the first since 2011 to hit a homer and steal two bases in the same game since at least 1914. He’s just the fifth to do it at Fenway in that 101-year stretch."
NYDN: "So much for momentum. After Sunday's offensive explosion and Monday's dramatic late-inning win, the Yankees had every reason to feel good about themselves ... But the bats went cold, CC Sabathia was lukewarm at best and the Yankees looked uninspired, dropping a 4-3 decision to the Orioles on a cold, damp night in the Inner Harbor."
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