Roark initially shut the Sox down in the top of the first inning as Mr. Mookie Betts grounded out to short to begin. Andrew Benintendi lined out to center and JD Martinez flied out to right to end the inning. Johnson ran into trouble early in the bottom of the first as Trea Turner and Juan Soto led off with back to back singles. Anthony Rendon popped up to second and Bryce Harper whiffed to quel the momentum. Daniel Murphy popped up to third to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the second as Mitch Moreland and Xander Bogaerts stroked back to back singles to start. Rafael Devers beat out a double play ball and Eduardo Nunez belted a 3 run home run to put the Sox on top. Sandy Leon lined out to left and Johnson grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox up 3-0.
Johnson struck out Mark Reynolds to open the bottom of the second but Michael A Taylor singled. Taylor was gunned down trying to steal by the alert Leon but Pedro Severino walked. Roark himself grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the third as Mr. Mookie grounded out to short to start. Benintendi grounded out to second and Martinez whiffed to end the inning. All of a sudden Moreland fell to the ground and had to be carried out on a stretcher headed to the ICU so Steve Pearce had to come in for him to begin the bottom of the third. Turner popped up to third, Soto grounded out to second and Rendon flied out to center to end the inning.
Pearce doubled to open the top of the fourth before moving to third on a wild pitch. Bogaerts walked to put runners at the corners but Devers looked at strike three. Nunez banged into a double play to end the inning. The Nationals took advantage of the squander in the bottom of the fourth as Harper doubled to start. Murphy grounded out to first but Reynolds singled home Harper to put Washington on the board. Taylor singled and Reynolds moved to third on the line out by Severino. Roark singled home Reynolds but Turner flied out to left to end the inning with the Nationals down 3-2.
The Sox exploded to ice the game in the top of the fifth although Leon whiffed to start. Johnson himself got the rally started with a base hit and Mr. Mookie singled as well. Benintendi singled to load the bases and Martinez singled to left to score Johnson and Betts. Pearce singled home Benintendi and advanced JD to third and Bogaerts effectively ended the game with a 3 run bomb to center. Devers walked but Nunez banged into another double play to end the inning but it was 9-2 Sox.
Johnson came back for the bottom of the fifth and got Soto to ground out to third. Rendon singled and Harper walked but Murphy lined out to right. Rather than let Johnson get one more batter with a 7 run lead, Sox manager Alex Cora pissed everyone off by taking him out in favor of Heath Hembree so Brian couldn't get credit for the win. Still, Brian went 4 2/3 innings, allowed 2 runs, singled and scored.
Heath Hembree came in and promptly gave up a single to Reynolds to load the bases but struck out Taylor to end the inning.
Somehow Roark came back for the top of the sixth and dominated. Leon lined out to right, Hembree himself took strike three and Mr. Mookie flied out to right to end the inning. The first thing Hembree did in the bottom of the sixth was allow a solo blast to Severino, his first of the year, to inch Washington closer. Hembree got mad and blew away Roark and Turner before freezing Soto for strike three to end the inning with the Nationals down 9-3.
Roark finished strong in the top of the seventh as Benintendi lined out to center, Martinez flied out to right and Pearce lined out to center to end the inning. Kudos to Roark and the manager for sticking with him to save their bullpen for tomorrow. Brandon Workman took the mound in the bottom of the seventh and cruised as Rendon grounded out to short to start. Harper looked at strike three before Murphy grounded out to short to end the inning.
Brian Goodwin came in to play right but took the pitcher's spot in the batting order with Wilmer Difo coming in for Harper but at second with Tim Collins now on the mound in Murphy's spot to begin the top of the eighth. Bogaerts walked to start but Devers banged into a double play. Nunez doubled and Leon walked but pinch hitter Blake Swihart (for Workman) looked at strike three to end the inning. William Cuevas made his seson debut in the bottom of the eighth and got Reynolds to ground out to short to begin. Taylor also grounded to short and Severino flied out to center to end the inning.
The Sox struck one last time in the top of the ninth with Matt Grace on the mound. Mr. Mookie walked but was erased on the force by Benintendi. Martinez launched his 26th home run of the year to wrap up the scoring for Boston. Pearce grounded out to third and Bogaerts grounded out to second to end the inning but it was 11-3 Sox.
The Nationals had one last surge in the bottom of the ninth as Goodwin homered to start the frame. Turner singled and moved to second on the grounder by Soto, but Rendon flied out to right. Difo grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox winning the game 11-4.
Hero of the Night is a tough one but I'll go with Xander Bogaerts. He was 2 for 3 with 2 walks and swatted the 3 run home run to ice the game.
The Good:
Mitch Moreland was 1 for 1 with a run scored before leaving.
Steve Pearce was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Eduardo Nunez was 2 for 4 including a 3 run homer.
Brian Johnson allowed 2 runs in 4 2/3 innings of work and was 1 for 2 at the plate with a run scored.
Brandon Workman got the win with a scoreless 7th inning.
The Bad:
None
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored.
Andrew Benintendi was just 1 for 5 but scored 2 runs.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 3 but walked and scored.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 3 but walked.
Heath Hembree allowed a run in 1 1/3 innings.
William Cuevas allowed a run in 2 innings of work.
Final Thoughts:
Nice to see the offense explode like that after being at a premium the previous two games. Getting home runs by Devers, Nunez and Bogaerts was important but so was the bullpen limiting the Nationals to 2 runs in the final 4 1/3 innings. Considering who was pitching tomorrow and yesterday, essentially the Sox treated this game as a throwaway and still bashed their way to victory anyway. Its yet to be seen how bad Moreland is hurt and how long he'll be out which is why the acquisition of Steve Pearce suddenly appears more important than it originally seemed. The win propelled the Sox to 58-29, 1 game ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow Eduardo Rodriguez (9-3) looks to bounce back from his New York disaster to take on Erick Fedde in a July 4th firework spectacle. The Sox look for the series sweep tomorrow morning at 11:00 AM at Nationals Park.
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