The Nationals were seeing red Monday night, and so were their fans on humid South Capitol Street.
Boston and Red Sox Nation invaded Nationals Park, with the visitors continuing the summer woes of the slumping Nationals with a 4-3 victory in a showdown of 2016 Cy Young Award winners on a simmering night in the nation’s capital.
It was the first regular-season trip to Nationals Park since 2009 for the Red Sox, who arrived in the early morning hours after an 11-1 drubbing Sunday night in New York against the Yankees.
Bryce Harper, hitting .214 at the time, crushed a solo homer – his 21st - to right in the last of the eighth off Joe Kelly to pull the Nationals to within 4-3. But the Nationals couldn’t forge a tie against Boston closer Craig Kimbrel and fell to 8-16 in one-run games before a crowd of 39,002.
Boston, hardly appearing sleep-deprived, jumped on Washington ace Max Scherzer early and sent the Nationals to their sixth loss in seven games.
The two-time defending National League East division champs are now 9-18 since June 1 and 6-16 in the last 22 games. Washington (42-41) doesn’t even have a winning record in its home park, with a mark of 19-21. The third-place Nationals began the day six games back of the first-place Atlanta Braves.
Scherzer, who gave up three runs in six innings, did get his 1,000 strikeout with the Nationals when he fanned Boston’s Andrew Benintendi in the fifth. The three-time Cy Young winner is the 11th pitcher in big league history to reach that mark with two teams, which he also did with the Detroit Tigers from 2010-14.
But by then the outcome was nearly decided by a most unexpected source.
Boston starting pitcher Rick Porcello (10-3), who gave up two runs in six innings, had the first extra-base hit of his career when he smashed a bases-loaded double to left-center to drive in three runs off Scherzer in the second.
That gave the Red Sox a 3-0 lead after Mitch Moreland led off with a single, Brock Holt was hit by a pitch and Jackie Bradley, Jr. was given an intentional walk before Porcello came through. It was the first at-bat of the season for Porcello, who had not driven in a run since 2009.
Hot-hitting Anthony Rendon broke up the Porcello shutout bid as he slammed the first pitch in the last of the fourth over the fence in left to make it 3-1. It was the sixth homer in the last 17 games for Rendon, who has 12 overall.
The Nationals made it 3-2 in the sixth as Daniel Murphy, who came off the disabled list June 12, hit a solo homer to right. It was the first homer of the year for Murphy and came in his 58th at-bat at the big league level.
Boston got an insurance run in the seventh to make it 4-2 as Mookie Betts led off with a long homer against reliever Brandon Kintzler, who took over for Scherzer.
Rendon came up with two runners on base in the fifth but struck out to end the frame against Porcello. In the seventh Rendon again made the last out with two runners on base against the Boston pitcher.
Scherzer fell to 10-5 as he gave up four hits with nine strikeouts. The St. Louis native has lost four of its last five starts and has not won since June 5 at home against Tampa Bay.
The Red Sox (57-29) are 5-1 against the National League with the win.
The game was the first as opposing managers for Washington’s Dave Martinez and Boston’s Alex Cora, both of whom have Puerto Rican heritage.”It’s pretty cool,” Martinez told The Washington Times. “He has been a good friend of mine. It is good for Puerto Rico, it really is. We feel blessed.”
NOTES: The series continues Tuesday at 6:05 p.m. as right-hander Tanner Roark (3-9, 4.10) of the Nationals will face Boston lefty Brian Johnson (1-2, 4.28). Roark is 0-3 in his last four starts and has not won since June 6, while the Nats are 8-16 when a lefty starts against them … The game-time temperature was 95 degrees at 7:08 p.m. Home plate umpire and crew chief Jerry Layne had to be checked out and given water before the sixth inning by Paul Lessard, the head athletic trainer for the Nationals.
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