It was good news all around as the Boston Celtics defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3 of their second round NBA playoff series and the Boston Red Sox defeated the Washington Nationals. It wasn't pretty but the Red Sox outlasted the Nationals with a late rally. The Nationals took a 1-0 lead on a Joey Meneses home run but Wilyer Abreu hit a home run of his own. Eddie Rosario hit a home run off Sox starter Cooper Criswell but Jarren Duran drove David Hamilton in against Nationals starter Jake Irvin. Chris Martin (2-1, 4.40 ERA) pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Rafael Devers pounded a two run double in the bottom of the frame to put Boston on top. Kenley Jansen slammed the door in the top of the ninth and the Sox had won the game 4-2 at Fenway Park.
Criswell got the ball in the top of the first and Jacob Young struck out swinging to start. CJ Abrams lined out to right and Luis Garcia Jr struck out swinging to end the inning. Irvin got the ball in the bottom of the first and Jarren Duran flied out to right to start. Wilyer Abreu flied out to center but Trey Lipscomb booted an error by Tyler O'Neill for an error. Rafael Devers got a base hit to center but as usual, Vaughn Grissom grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
The Nationals took the lead in the top of the second as Joey Meneses hit a home run all the way to Halifax, Nova Scotia to give the Nats the lead. Jesse Winker walked but Keibert Ruiz struck out swinging. Eddie Rosario grounded into a double play to end the inning with the Nats up 1-0.
Dominic Smith struck out swinging to start the bottom of the second before Reese McGuire popped up to short. David Hamilton lined out to right to end the inning.
Lipscomb struck out swinging to start the top of the third before Victor Robles went down hacking. Hamilton booted a grounder by Young for an error and Abrams got a base hit to right, but Garcia Jr lined out to second to end the inning. Ceddanne Rafaela struck out swinging to start the bottom of the third and Duran grounded back to the mound. Suddenly Abreu pounded his third home run of the season to tie the game. O'Neill grounded out to short to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Meneses went down hacking to start the top of the fourth before Winker took strike three. Ruiz flied out to center to end the inning.
Devers took strike three to start the bottom of the fourth before Grissom lined out to second. Smith took strike three to end the inning.
The Nats took the lead in the top of the fifth as Rosario hit a home run all the way to Florida to put Washington ahead. Lipscomb flied out to right, Robles struck out swinging and Young took strike three to end the inning with the Nationals ahead 2-1. That was it for Criswell who threw just 79 pitches in 5 innings
The Sox struck back in the bottom of the fifth as McGuire got a base hit to right to start. Hamilton botched the bunt and got McGuire forced at second, but he did steal second base himself. Rafaela flied out to right to move Hamilton to third and Duran doubled to the wall to score him. Abreu flied out to right to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
Brennan Bernardino came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Abrams singled to left to start. Garcia bunted so hard, that it turned into a double play. Meneses grounded back to the mound to end the inning. O'Neill struck out swinging to begin the bottom of the sixth and Devers went down hacking. Grissom popped up to second to end the inning.
Winker took strike three to begin the top of the seventh and Sox manager Alex Cora figured Bernardino had done enough. Justin Slaten came in to pitch and Ruiz lined out to first. Rosario walked but Lipscomb forced him at second to end the inning, Smith grounded out to short to start the bottom of the seventh before McGuire grounded out to second. Hamilton also grounded out to second to end the inning.
Chris Martin came in to pitch the top of the eighth and hit Robles with a pitch to start. Robles got picked off and Young grounded back to the mound. Abrams lined out to Martin to end the inning. Robert Garcia came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Rafaela popped up to second to start. Rob Refsnyder pinch hit for Duran and got a base hit down the third base line. Romy Gonzalez pinch hit for Abreu and hit a double play ball to short. Abrams got Rob at second but threw the ball away for an error. Nationals manager Dave Martinez made people scratch their heads when he had O'Neill intentionally walked to get to Devers. Rafael responded with a double off the Monster to score Gonzalez and O'Neill to put the Sox on top. Grissom struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-2.
Kenley Jansen came in to close out the top of the ninth and Garcia Jr grounded out to second to start. Meneses struck out swinging and Winker took strike three to end the game. The Sox had won it 4-2.
Hero of The Night is Rafael Devers. His double in the eighth drove in the winning runs.
The Good:
Jarren Duran was 1 for 3 with an rbi.
Rob Refsnyder got a base hit as a pinch hitter.
Wilyer Abreu was 1 for 3 with a home run.
Romy Gonzalez scored a run in a plate appearance.
Reese McGuire was 1 for 3.
Cooper Criswell allowed just 2 runs in 5 innings with 3 hits and 2 walks. He also struck out 9.
Brennan Bernardino tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Justin Slaten tossed 2/3 of a scoreless inning.
Chris Martin got the win with a scoreless eighth inning.
Kenley Jansen earned his sixth save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Vaughn Grissom was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Dominic Smith was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Tyler O'Neill was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked and scored a run.
David Hamilton was 0 for 3 with an error but stole a base and scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
Once again it wasn't pretty but a win is a win. The encouraging sign despite the awful offense is that they kept the game close enough for the Nationals to make a mistake. Walking O'Neill to get to Devers was like walking someone to get to David Ortiz or JD Martinez in the old days, what was Dave Martinez thinking? Its a shame Cora pulls his guys after 5 innings every time because it would save their bullpen's arms if he allows them to go longer. Did he learn nothing from the collapse of 2021? Still, with the offense as bad as it is, its nice to see Devers finally get a clutch hit and the rise of Abreu. Another thing on display was Hamilton's speed, that's going to come in handy for late game situations like Dave Roberts in 2004. The key to the game was the bullpen shutting down the Nationals after the fifth inning. They're doing a great job but how much longer can they hold out with Cora pulling guys after 5 innings every single game? We all saw The A-Team disintegrate in 2021, it'll be a shame if it happens this year as well. All in all it was a good win and hopefully the team can start hitting soon. The win improved the Sox to 20-19, 6.5 games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to take two of three from the Nationals tomorrow afternoon when Brayan Bello comes off the Injured List to take on MacKenzie Gore. The game begins at 1:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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