Seven Late Inning Runs Power Washington Nationals Over Boston

The Washington Nationals piled on seven runs between the seventh and eighth innings to convincingly even the series on the road against the Boston Red Sox in an 8-1 win.

In a game that featured four players ejected including Nationals pitcher Miles Mikolas, who was not pitching in the win, Cade Cavalli dazzled in his latest start after tossing a career high 13 strikeouts while allowing just one hit in seven innings. Cavalli became the first Nationals pitcher to record double digit strikeouts and allow one hit or less while pitching seven innings since Max Scherzer did so against the Colorado Rockies back on April 14, 2018, a day when Scherzer posted ten strikeouts. Cavalli did so while retiring 19 batters in a row before receiving a warm welcome in the dugout.

James Wood also notched a pair of RBIs in a 3-for-5 performance, one of four Nationals to post multi-hit games after Dylan Crews, Daylen Lile and Keibert Ruiz all finished with two hits each.

Yet it would be Boston who punched in the game's first run in the bottom of the first after Cavalli's lone hit allowed came against his first batter of the day after a leadoff double set up the run courtesy of a fielding error by Curtis Mead.

The fourth inning brawl might have been the spark needed after Washington would even it up in the fifth inning as James Wood continued to break out of his slump with a single into right field that brought in Lile before Ruiz was thrown out at third base.

The runs then came pouring in to begin the seven after Jose Tena opened with a leadoff single before Nasim Nunez drew a walk to get a second runner on. After Ruiz drove in one on an infield single, a Luis Garcia Jr. double drove in two more runs to stay hot one day after being honored by MLB for the first time in his career.

CJ Abrams then opened the eighth with a 402 foot home run to right center before consecutive doubles from Keibert Ruiz then James Wood added the final three runs of the night, giving Washington a chance at securing the series win on Wednesday afternoon.

While Washington awaits further word on punishments expected from the fourth inning scuffle, Andrew Alvarez is set to take the mound with first pitch set for 1:35 PM.

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