Less than a week can make a world of difference in a baseball season.
After leaving Colorado last Wednesday following a series loss to the majors-worst Rockies, the Boston Red Sox followed a four-game series sweep of the archrival New York Yankees with a win Monday in the opener of a three-game set vs. the visiting Washington Nationals.
That series will continue on Tuesday night.
Interim manager Chad Tracy’s Boston club continued its momentum into the early innings of Monday’s game, scoring all six runs on nine hits over the first three frames of a 6-3 victory.
“Continuing to carry that from the momentum we just had is a really good sign,” Tracy said. “(The offense is) kind of flying under the radar (because of recent dominant starting pitching), but we’re finding a way to have really competitive at-bats … and play with a lead.”
Ranger Suarez worked six innings for the Red Sox’s 12th straight quality start, marking their longest since a franchise-record streak in 1988. Left-hander Connelly Early (7-5, 3.59 ERA) will be tasked with extending that streak on Tuesday.
Offensively, the Red Sox have scored at least four runs in seven consecutive games. Home runs by Willson Contreras (three-run) and Caleb Durbin (solo) were all Boston needed on Monday.
“We are not where we want to be, but we are on a pretty good roll. This is something that we’ve wanted to feel during this season, and it’s finally come to us. We are hungry,” Contreras said.
Contreras was emotional following his homer, as his native Venezuela recovers from a major earthquake. An inning later, he was given a “surprising” ejection for tapping his helmet after a strikeout.
Early struck out a season-high nine batters across six innings of two-run ball in a 6-3 victory in his series-opening start against Cam Schlittler and the Yankees on Thursday. Early has back-to-back outings of that length, allowing just three runs through that span.
The 24-year-old left-hander has yet to face the Nationals but owns a 1-0 record and 2.10 ERA in five career interleague starts.
Washington has played much better baseball on the road (26-18) than at home (17-25), but first-year manager Blake Butera feels right at home in Boston. Not only is Butera a Boston College grad, but his father, Barry, played in the Red Sox’s organization.
“This is pretty awesome,” the 33-year-old Butera said. “It’s all a blur when you go to school here, and you’re 18-22 years old, and then realizing I hadn’t been back here in a while.”
Butera’s Nationals hope for a bounce-back game on Tuesday, though the work of Miles Mikolas to complete seven innings helped to save the bullpen. Mikolas threw four scoreless frames after the Red Sox built their early lead.
James Wood hit a 441-foot leadoff homer in the first inning, but the Nats were held off the scoreboard until CJ Abrams knocked a two-run double in the sixth, snapping a 0-for-16 skid.
“Obviously, the first inning didn’t go the way (Mikolas) would’ve liked,” Wood said. “But from there on, he was getting quick outs, getting us back in the dugout. And we just weren’t able to do enough.”
The Nationals will hand the ball to former first-round draft pick Cade Cavalli (4-4, 4.00 ERA) on Tuesday to face Boston for the first time. He comes off throwing six innings of two-run ball with seven strikeouts in a Thursday no-decision against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Nationals lost 10-5.
Cavalli, who is searching for his first win since June 13, has allowed two runs or less in four of his last five road starts.
–Field Level Media
