The Sox ended up on the wrong end of a sweep against the Nationals. The Nats are showing themselves to be a legit contender this year and they showed us a lot of reasons why during this weekend series. They don’t have a lot of pop in their bats, but with their starting pitching they don’t need a lot to walk away with a win.
Lester took the mound for the Sox and all in all, he looked pretty good. Lester allowed one run to score in the 1st inning when he gave up a leadoff double and then a sac grounder from Zimmerman to score Espinosa. Lester seemed to struggle with his command in the 3rd inning, however he was able to keep the Nats off the scoreboard. After that, he seemed to settle down. Lester didn’t let the Nats score again until the 7th inning. Lester gave up 2 singles to start the inning. With 2 outs in the inning, Lester hopes of seeing a win went down the drain when he gave up a wall ball double that Darnell McDonald was “this close” to catching. Two runs scored and Lester left the mound down 3-2 instead of up 2-1. Lester’s line for the night was 107 pitches, 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 BB and 9 Ks.
The Red Sox offense continued it’s trend of struggling to score runs against the Nats pitching. The Sox got their first run of the game in the 3rd inning to tie the game 1-1. Pedey got a ground out sac in order to plate Punto who walked to start the inning. David Ortiz put the Sox up 2-1 in the 4th inning when he hit his 14th HR of the season. Papi hit a solo HR into the Nats’ bullpen. After the Nats took the lead in the 7th, the Sox took no time tying the game back up again. Sweeney and Punto began the inning by hitting singles and then DMac moved them over with a sac bunt. Sweeney scored on an RBI groundout from Podsednik. Game tied 3-3.
The Sox bullpen would be taking over for the rest of the game. Scott Atchison came in and pitched a scoreless 8th inning. Alfredo Aceves took the mound for the Sox in the 9th and all of RSN was looking forward to the chance of a walk off win. Unfortunately, Aceves would not hold the tie. Aceves walked Harper who was in pinch hitting. With 2 outs, Aceves gave up an RBI double to plate Harper. Sox 3-4. In the bottom of the 9th, the Sox were unable to get to the Nats closer Clippard. Dustin Pedroia barked at the umps about the strike zone and Bobby V came out and took over the argument. Bobby V got tossed from the game, but not before he got his yell on. Pedey ended up striking out and the game was over.
Sweeping team is over, but swept…not so much.
Red Sox 3 Nationals 4 BOXSCORE
WP: Gorzelanny (2-1) LP: Aceves (0-4) SV: Clippard (8)
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
