After a troubling four game series vs. Philadelphia, the Washington Nationals bounced back win a convincing series win vs. Boston
Less than a week removed from a four-game losing streak -- which included a set of three crushing losses against the division rival Philadelphia Phillies -- the Washington Nationals have fully rebounded with two series wins against AL East foes.
After a 2-1 series win in a Beltway Battle with the Baltimore Orioles, the Nats headed up to Boston to face the Red Sox in a mid-week brawl (literally). Three hard fought games later, Washington will return home with two wins and a 21-9 total run count.
With the series in the books, let's take a look at the key takeaways and storylines from the Nationals' conquest in Boston.
1) Benches-clearing brawl mars 8-1 victory in Wednesday showdown
Unfortunately, the main story from this series is the fracas that erupted during Wednesday's game when, in the bottom of the fourth inning, Nats ace Cade Cavalli struck out Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras.
After the strikeout, Cavalli could be heard yelling, "sit down, boy." Moments later, Contreras approached the mound and the benches cleared.
Contreras was ejected, along with Red Sox outfielder Nate Eaton and interim manager Chad Tracy and Washington pitcher Miles Mikolas. It was the second night in a row that Contreras got the boot.
The incident was undeniably ugly and Cavalli has since apologized for the comment that lit the fuse.
It was otherwise a good night for Cavalli, who gave up just one hit and struck out 13 in a clean, scoreless seven frames. While the incident will overshadow that performance, hopefully it is something the players involved can put behind them.
2) The bullpen was... good?
It's no secret that Washington has struggled to get good innings out of the bullpen -- just take a look at the Philadelphia series. But over the three games in Boston, the much maligned group gave up just two earned runs.
In the first game, a 6-3 loss, all six earned runs were the responsibility of Miles Mikolas, who labored through seven rough innings. In the next two games, the team gave up just three runs combined -- all three came from the pen, but only two were earned, both by Riley Cornelio in an inning of work Thursday.
It's unlikely that this is a sign of things to come, as it's not the first time the teams' relievers have put together a decent stretch. But if this team does make the playoffs, it's good to know that the group can perform when things go right.
3) James Wood has broken the slump -- again
Stop me if you've heard this before: James Wood has broken out of a slump in a big way.
Wood, though excellent, is a notoriously streaky hitter, and he recently had one of the valleys that can run as deep as his peaks rise high. According to Yahoo! Sports, Wood was just 5-41 from June 19-28, good for a batting average .122.
But in the Boston series? The James Wood Nationals fans known and love showed up.
The 23-year-old star was 6-13 in the series, mashing two long balls and driving in six runs. The young slugger was a huge part of the series win, and the Nats will need this version of him if they want this season to continue being the pleasant surprise it has been so far.
