Nationals 10, Red Sox 2

 

No trophies again, but no excuses either - the Red Sox were blown out at home by the Washington Nationals and lose the series, two games to one  It's back to their underperforming selves ,apparently.

Payton Tolle gave up an uncharacteristic six runs - two in the first inning and four more in the fourth. The bullpen gave up another four runs, a fifth in that fourth inning disaster to make it 7-0, and then three in the seventh. The Nats walked in a Boston run in the seventh inning and as long as the bases were loaded, the Sox squeezed out another run that inning, but that was it offensively. 

Two straight losses after their first home sweep and winning five in a row for the first time this year. At least we're not the New York fucking Yankees, who've lost seven straight games. 

Still, the last-place Red Sox are 13½ back from first. and about to start a nine-game road trip through the basements of the MLB - three against the last-place L.A. Angels (36-51) and three against the last place Mets (36-51), with the first-place Chicago White Sox (45-40) sandwiched in between. Knowing this year's Sox, they'll probably sweep Chicago and settle for 1-2 losses in L.A. and N.Y. 

They're off tomorrow (travel) but will probably start rookie Jake Bennett (2-3, 3.27) on Friday in L.A. The Angels will likely open with veteran Reid Detmar, who was a reliever last season before returning to a starter this year. Detmar is a career 3-1 against Boston with one save, 34 K's and only one home run, so our work is cut out for us.