It was an emotional night for the Boston Red Sox as they won their fifth straight game, but it was almost ruined. With the recent natural disaster in Venezuela fresh in everyone's minds, it was the Venezuelan born Willson Contreras provided the spark against the Washington Nationals. Ranger Suarez (4-3, 2.94 ERA) allowed a first inning home run to James Wood but Contreras blasted a three run bomb off Washington starter Miles Mikolas. Caleb Durbin followed with a home run of his own but then first base umpire Nic Lentz tossed Contreras from the game for tapping his helmet. That did little to derail the momentum as fellow Venezuelans Carlos Narvaez and Wilyer Abreu both drove in runs. The Nationals rallied for a pair of runs in the sixth but the Sox bullpen saved the day. Garrett Whitlock earned his first save of the season and the Sox won their fifth straight game with a 6-3 victory over the Nationals at Fenway Park.
Suarez got the ball in the top of the first and James Wood hit a home run all the way to Cuba to put the Nats up just 3 pitches into the game. Andres Chaparro flied out to center amd Curtis Mead took strike three. CJ Abrams struck out swinging to end the inning with the Nationals up 1-0.
The Sox answered as Mikolas got the ball in the bottom of the first. Masataka Yoshida flied out to left but Ceddanne Rafaela got a base hit in the hole at short. Rafaela moved to third on the base hit to center by Wilyer Abreu but Willson Contreras belted his 18th home run of the season to put the Sox on top. Jarren Duran struck out swinging but Caleb Durbin clobbered his 7th home run of the season to increase the lead. Anthony Seigler got a base hit to center but Carlos Narvaez struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-1.
Dylan Crews grounded out to short to start the top of the second and Jacob Young took strike three. Luis Garcia Jr grounded out to second to end the inning. Tsung-Che Cheng singled to center to start the bottom of the second and Yoshida got a base hit to center. Rafaela got a base hit to right to load the bases and Abreu hit a sac fly to left to score Cheng. Contreras struck out swinging and apparently tapped his helmet. That was enough for first base umpire Nic Lentz to toss him from the game and Sox manager Chad Tracy was livid. How can you run a player on this night with everything going on for something like THAT? Duran lined out to second to end the inning with the Sox up 5-1.
Andruw Monasterio took over for Contreras to start the top of the third. Nasim Nunez struck out swinging, Keibert Ruiz grounded out to third and Wood was retired on a squibber in front of the plate to end the inning. Durbin lined out to left to start the bottom of the third but Seigler doubled to center. Seigler stole third and scored on the sac fly to right by Narvaez. Cheng grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox up 6-1.
Chaparro walked to start the top of the fourth but Mead took strike three. Abrams struck out swinging and Crews grounded out to third to end the inning. Yoshida popped up to first to start the bottom of the fourth and Rafaela lined out to right. Abreu grounded out to second to end the inning.
Young struck out swinging to start the top of the fifth and Garcia grounded to first. Nunez grounded out to third to end the inning. Monasterio grounded out to short to start the bottom of the fifth and Duran grounded out to first. Durbin grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Nationals rallied in the top of the sixth as Ruiz singled to left to start. Wood took strike three but Chaparro got a base hit to center and Mead did the same to load the bases. Abrams doubled down the right field line to score Ruiz and Chaparro, but Crews lined out to second. Young grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Nationals down 6-3. That was it for Suarez who allowed 3 runs in 6 innings off 5 hits and a walk.
Seigler grounded out to short to start the bottom of the sixth and Narvaez flied out to right. Cheng grounded out to first to end the inning.
Danny Coulombe came in to pitch the top of the seventh and naturally Garcia walked to start. Nunez walked....no wait, Sox manager Chad Tracy challenged the ball was a foul tip. Somehow the call was overturned and Nunez grounded into a double play. Ruiz popped up to second to end the inning. Yoshida flied out to left to start the bottom of the seventh and Rafaela grounded out to third. Abreu grounded out to second to end the inning.
Tyron "El Lanzallama" Guerrero came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Wood struck out swinging to start. Jose Tena pinch hit for Chaparro and struck out swinging, but Mead beat out a roller to third. Abrams lined out to center to end the inning. Zak Kent came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Monasterio flied out to center to start. Duran struck out swinging but Durbin walked....only to get picked off to end the inning.
Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock came in to close out the top of the ninth and Crews struck out swinging to start. Daylen Lile pinch hit for Young and popped up to third. Naturally Garcia Jr got a base hit to right and Jorbit Vivas pinch hit for Nunez. Vivas struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had won the game 6-3.
Hero of the Night is Willson Contreras. His 3 run homer was for all of Venezuela and it inspired the Sox to victory.
The Good:
Ceddanne Rafaela was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Wilyer Abreu was 1 for 3 with an rbi and a run scored.
Caleb Durbin was 1 for 3 with a walk including a home run.
Anthony Seigler was 2 for 3 with a stolen base and a run scored.
Tsung-Che Cheng was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
Ranger Suarez got the win by allowing just 3 runs in 6 innings off 5 hits and a walk while striking out 8.
Danny Coulombe pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
Tyron Guerrero tossed a scoreless eighth inning.
Garrett Whitlock earned his first save of the year with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Andruw Monasterio was 0 for 2.
Jarren Duran was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Masataka Yoshida was just 1 for 4.
Carlos Narvaez was 0 for 2 with a strikeout but drove in a run.
Final Thoughts:
That was a big win both for the team but for Venezuela as well. Abreu, Contreras, Narvaez, Suarez and Monasterio were all effected and condolences to former Sox player Gorkys Hernandez who lost his wife as well. With that said, normally you don't bitch about umpires too much but if I were Chad Tracy I'd lodge a formal complaint with MLB over Nic Lentz. Imagine if the umpire ran Daniel Nava from the game back in 2013 after he hit his famous "Boston this is for you" home run. Or if the umpire ran David Ortiz after his grand slam in 2013. Nevertheless, it was the Venezuelans that were the heroes tonight. Suarez pitched well, Contreras hit the big home runs, Narvaez and Abreu drove in runs and Monasterio filled in for Willson after he was tossed. Anthony Seigler is looking more and more like 1990 Jody Reed every day and it most likely won't last, but still fun to watch. Whitlock earned his first save of the season tonight and what a difference five days makes. Coming off the loss to the Colorado Rockies it was sell the team, sell everyone on the team, burn Fenway to the ground, dogs and cats living together mass hysteria. Now fans are saying if they can get certain guys back healthy, the playoffs are in sight. The next loss will most likely bring back the "blow up the team and sell it" crowd but for five days, at least this was fun to watch. The win improved the Sox to 37-46, good for last place in the AL East. The Sox look to win their sixth straight game and second in a row against Washington tomorrow night when Connelly Early (7-5, 3.59 ERA) goes head to head with Cade Cavalli of the Nationals. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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