The Washington Nationals dropped back to .500 overall once again after dropping the series opener vs. Boston Red Sox
The Washington Nationals continue to hover around .500 through the regular season after dropping the series opener against the Boston Red Sox on Monday night in a 6-3 loss.
Miles Mikolas struggled once again on the mound after giving up six earned runs and nine hits, including a pair of home runs, while tossing three strikeouts in seven innings. Zak Kent came in to toss the final inning where he didn't allow a hit on 19 pitches and exiting the mound with one strikeout. Curtis Mead, meanwhile, accounted for two of the team's seven hits in the loss.
James Wood would get the game started on the right foot after taking the opening at bat three pitches before blasting a 90 mph sinker 441 feet for a leadoff home run, marking his first home run since June 14 against the Seattle Mariners. It marked his sixth leadoff home run of the season, the second most in baseball, in his debut at bat at Fenway Park.
Yet the Red Sox would pay it back in the bottom of the inning in what proved to be a long frame to begin the night for Mikolas.
After forcing a fly out to open the bottom of the first, Mikolas allowed two consecutive batters to reach base before giving up a 421 foot, three run home run. Two at bats later, a 338 foot solo home run to left field would push the Red Sox convincingly ahead, 4-1, to grab a commanding lead they never gave back.
Boston stretched its lead in the following inning after Wilyer Abreu hit a sac fly into left field to push the deficit to 5-1. The next inning, another sac fly, this time into right field, pushed the score to 6-1.
Washington would grab life in the sixth inning after Keibert Ruiz's leadoff single was followed up by Andres Chaparro and Curtis Mead shortly loading the bases on singles to center. That set up CJ Abrams to record his lone hit of the night after his double into right field brought in both Ruiz and Chaparro to cut the deficit to 6-3.
Yet the Nationals couldn't manage any closer after getting just two base runners on base with one hit over the final three innings.
Washington will look to even the series on Tuesday when the two teams meet for a 7:10 PM scheduled opening pitch as Cade Cavalli is set to take the mound.
Nationals Roundtable also offers a fan community. We’d love to have you join us to talk all things Nationals. Create an account, click the “Join” button at the top of the page to join our free community and follow for all of our coverage, analysis and more!
