The Red Sox rode four homers and a second straight strong bullpen effort to beat the Washington Nationals, 9-5.
The Sox got two homers from Rafael Devers, one from Xander Bogaerts and one from Bobby Dalbec. Dalbec's homer came in his second at-bat in his major league debut. Devers had four hits.
After Zack Godley was removed in the fifth, four relievers combined to limit the Nationals to a single run. In the last two games, Red Sox relievers contributed 11 innings and allowed just one.
WHO: Red Sox (11-22) vs. Washington Nationals (12-18)
WHEN: 1:35 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SERIES TO DATE: 1-1
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Zach Godley (0-3, 7.29) vs. RHP Austin Voth (0-3, 6.65)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI 93.7 FM
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Verdugo LF
Devers 3B
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Pillar RF
Plawekci C
Bradley CF
Dalbec 1B
Peraza 2B
NATIONALS
Turner SS
Soto LF
Cabrera DH
Thames 1B
Gomes C
Eaton RF
Harrison 3B
Garcia 2B
Robles CF
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
4:40 Have a day, Rafael Devers. Wicked shot just inside the RF foul pole for a leadoff homer in the bottom of the eighth. Fourth hit of the afternoon, second homer.
3:52 Third hit of the afternoon for Rafael Devers, who may finally be putting it together at the plate.
3:24 Godley can't get through the fifth, despite carrying a five-run lead coming into the inning. He gives up a solo homer Eric Thames, then a walk to Yan Gomes and a run-scoring double to Adam Eaton and gets the hook, one out shy of qualifying for a win. Josh Osich on.
3:09 Bogaerts gets a gift base hit as Victor Robles loses the ball in the CF sun.
2:45 Nice moment as Bobby Dalbec homers to right in his second major league at-bat, going oppo on a ball that Eaton never saw because of the sun.
2:38 Nats are making consistent hard contact against Godley, who is bailed out by some nice defense in his outfield. Both Jackie Bradley Jr. and Verdugo ran down balls in the gap and limited the Nationals to two runs in an inning where they pounded out four hits.
2:29 In case you hadn't noticed, the Red Sox don't have an answer for Trea Turner. He has 10 hits in this series, including five last night and two today. Dating back to Friday night, he has hits in eight straight plate appearances.
2:19 Strong winds give Nats RF Adam Eaton a lot of difficulty. Rafael Devers pulls a ball to right, which continues to drift and drift until it lands in the Red Sox bullpen, scoring Verudgo.
2:17 Alex Verdugo, so good at taking the ball the other way, slices an opposite-field double to left with two outs in the second.
2:10 Bobby Dalbec has already been busy in his debut at first, with an assist in the first inning and handling two well-hit ground balls in the second. Looks pretty comfortable at his adopted position.
2:01 Kevin Plawecki was the only player in the Red Sox lineup with previous at-bats against Washington starter Austin Voth (2-for-5 coming in) and he delivers a run-scoring single up the middle, scoring Kevin Pillar (double) to up the Red Sox' lead to 3-0.
1:57 Xander Bogaerts continues to swing the hottest bat on the team, driving a fastball dead-red over everything in left for a two-run homer. That's his second straight game with a first-inning homer and his fourth homer in the last 11 games.
PRE-GAME NOTES:
- In addition to the trade which sent Mitch Moreland to the Padres in exchange for INF Hunter Potts and OF Jeisson Rosario, the Red Sox recalled 1B Bobby Dalbec from their alternate playing site.
- The Red Sox also released infielder Marco Hernandez. Hernandez appeared in 61 games last year and at times was the team's regular second baseman. But he fell off offensively in a big way in the second half and was never in the picture this season as the team put together its infield. He turns 28 next week.
- The Sox see Dalbec as primarily a first baseman now -- having converted from across the infield in the past year. But they won't hesitate to get him time at third, the position he played when he was drafted and signed. "If (Rafael Devers) needs a day and it makes sense to move Bobby over there,'' said Ron Roenicke, "I know he's a good defensive third baseman, so that's easy to do. We'll make sure we take care of him and put him in the right spots and hopefully he can get off to a good start, feel comfortable and fit right in with the group. But we know he can play both spots and first base is probably where needs to work on the most....If I move him back to (third) once in a while, I think he'll be fine.''
- Pitching coach Dave Bush talked with LHP Darwinzon Hernandez and "everything I think is fine (physically) with him. He's not going to pitch today, but I think we can get him back out there for a couple of more innings. That's what we're planning on doing.''