Boston’s big hitters have consistently done the job this year
Joseph Noteboom Jersey Rams , helping the Red Sox post the best record in the majors.
It’s been a very different story for the Washington Nationals, and that’s been abundantly clear through the first two games of their interleague
series.
Xander Bogaerts hit a three-run homer during a six-run fifth inning, J.D. Martinez and Eduardo Nunez also went deep, and Boston beat Washington 11-4 in
sweltering conditions Tuesday.
”A lot of guys stepped up,” Bogaerts said. ”The weather’s not the best. It’s hot. It’s better than cold. A lot of guys swung at good pitches and had good
at-bats.”
Martinez drove in four and leads the majors with 26 homers and 71 RBIs. Boston has won 17 of its last 19 interleague games, including 11 of its last
12.
Washington has lost four straight and 16 of 21 to fall to 42-42, its first time at .500 since it was 17-17.
”It’s hard to play from behind,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said. ”Our starting pitching right now is not giving the offense a chance. When we do try
and make a run and come back, we got to have shutout innings. It’s not
happening.”
Red Sox starter Brian Johnson allowed two runs in 4 2/3 innings. Brandon Workman (1-0) pitched a perfect seventh.
Boston scored first
Cheap M.J. Stewart Jersey , opening the second with consecutive singles before Nunez homered into the left field bullpen off starter Tanner Roark
(3-10). Mark Reynolds and Roark had RBI singles in the fourth to pull the
Nationals within 3-2.
The Red Sox responded in the fifth, collecting five consecutive singles before Bogaerts ripped Roark’s fastball to center to make it 9-2.
”We did a good job today against Roark,” Nunez said. ”I think he made a lot of mistakes up with the sinker and we took advantage.”
Brian Goodwin and Pedro Severino hit solo homers for Washington.
Roark allowed a career-high nine runs in seven innings and is 1-8 with a 5.19 ERA in 12 appearances (11 starts) since May 5.
”Other than two pitches I feel like they just base hit me to death, so what are you going to do?” Roark said.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: 1B Mitch Moreland left in the third inning with back spasms and is day to day. ”I wasn’t planning on playing him tomorrow, so definitely he won’t
play tomorrow now,” manager Alex Cora said. … LHP Drew Pomeranz (biceps
tendinitis) allowed five runs in 2 2/3 innings Monday for Triple-A Pawtucket in
his first rehab appearance since Boston placed him on the disabled list June 5.
… 2B Dustin Pedroia (left knee inflammation) is likely to remain in New York all
week for further testing.
Nationals: RHP Stephen Strasburg (shoulder inflammation) threw about 60 pitches Tuesday. Martinez said Strasburg’s next step could be a simulated game
sometime this weekend. … Martinez said 1B Ryan Zimmerman (right oblique strain)
could begin a rehab assignment this weekend. Zimmerman has not played since May
9.
ROSTER MOVE COMING
Cora said Boston will activate RHP Tyler Thornburg (shoulder surgery) on Wednesday. Thornburg was acquired from Milwaukee in December 2016 but has not
pitched in the majors since. The Red Sox intend to send RHP William Cuevas to
the minors. Cuevas allowed a run in two innings Tuesday in his first appearance
with Boston this season.
NATS SIGN TOP PICK
Washington signed first-round pick Mason Denaburg on Tuesday. The right-hander was selected No. 27 overall out of Merritt Island High School in
Florida in last month’s draft.
UP NEXT
Red Sox: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (9-3, 4.11 ERA) faces Washington for the first time as the three-game interleague series concludes.
Nationals: RHP Erick Fedde (1-3, 6.00) is coming off his first career victory and gets the nod for Washington’s annual Independence Day morning start.
—
The Pittsburgh Penguins don’t expect the sting from their second-round playoff exit to fade anytime soon.
They also don’t expect it to compel general manager Jim Rutherford to give the roster a thorough makeover after the two-time defending Stanley Cup
champions’ bid for a three-peat ended at the hands of Washington.
If anything, the setback has given Sidney Crosby and company a chance to put their remarkable run atop the league in perspective.
No team in a generation had won consecutive Cups until Pittsburgh did it last spring and the Penguins went as far as the 1999 Detroit Red Wings and Mario
Lemieux-led 1993 Penguins in their own respective quest for a three-peat.
”I think it definitely allows you to appreciate how difficult that was
Authentic Brad Boxberger Jersey , but also to know we were that close to moving on too, that’s the difficult part,” Crosby said Wednesday as Pittsburgh
packed up for the summer.
”I think it definitely gives you a greater appreciation how many times it could have went the other way on a pretty good run.”
The margin is always razor thin in the playoffs. And the Penguins somehow found a way to land on the right side of things through nine playoff series
across three springs.
Against the Capitals, however, the bounces – and often the energy – went the other way.
Twice Pittsburgh blew a third-period lead in regulation – something that never happened during the regular season.
Goaltender Matt Murray was usually crisp but not dominant. The scoring depth that made the Penguins an impossibly tough out vanished this time around. Evgeni
Malkin and Phil Kessel did not register a point at even strength against
Washington.
Derick Brassard – brought in at the trade deadline to be the third-line center role Nick Bonino filled so capably in 2016 and 2017 – was a
nonfactor.
So were Bryan Rust and Conor Sheary, who played beyond their years and scored pivotal goals in the process while ending their first two seasons in the league
with a parade through downtown Pittsburgh with the Cup in hand.
Not this time.
The Penguins downplayed the notion they simply ran out of gas after playing more hockey than any other club over the past 32 months.
Maybe, but there’s ample proof the NHL has caught up with the team that built itself on lightning quick aggression when Mike Sullivan took over as head coach
in December 2015.
Now it’s time for Pittsburgh to spend the offseason trying to get that extra gear back.
”We’re a good team,” Rutherford said. ”And we will be a good team going forward. We’ll have a chance to win again. We have the nucleus to do that.”
How? Let’s take a look back and a look ahead while the Penguins spent the rest of the playoffs watching the pursuit of the Cup on TV, if they bother
watching it at all.
