Juan Soto and Howie Kendrick belted back-to-back homers to highlight a five-run third inning, and Max Scherzer struck out 11 batters as the Washington Nationals breezed to a 10-2 win over the host Boston Red Sox on Friday.
Josh Harrison added a two-run shot and Trea Turner collected three hits and three RBIs for the Nationals, who erupted for 16 hits en route to snapping a three-game losing streak.
The offense was more than enough for Scherzer (3-1), who allowed one run on six hits in six innings without walking a batter. The three-time Cy Young Award winner, who struck out three batters in both the third and fourth innings, has recorded double-digit strikeouts in four of his seven starts this season.
Rafael Devers' 100th career double plated Alex Verdugo in the third inning, and Kevin Pillar added an RBI single in the ninth for the Red Sox, who fell to 4-11 at home after losing for the fourth time in five outings overall. The contest served as the opener of a season-high, 10-game homestand for Boston.
Turner ripped a double to left field to plate Michael A. Taylor and Victor Robles and give Washington a 2-0 lead in the third inning. Turner was able to trot home after Soto launched a 3-0 changeup from Martin Perez (2-4) over the wall in right field for his team-leading ninth homer of the season and second in as many games.
Kendrick wasted little time adding to the advantage, depositing a 3-1 changeup over the left field wall for his second homer of the season.
Devers' RBI double to deep right-center field in the third inning cut Boston's deficit to 5-1.
Washington regained the five-run cushion in the fourth inning, however, after Turner lasted long enough in a rundown to allow Robles to score from third base.
Perez permitted six runs on eight hits in four innings after surrendering just eight runs in his previous 29 1/3 frames.
Taylor legged out an infield single with two outs in the sixth inning to allow Kurt Suzuki to score and give the Nationals a 7-1 lead. In the eighth inning, Harrison's two-run blast and Taylor's RBI single capped the scoring for Washington.
--Field Level Media
Washington | Boston | |
Max Scherzer | Player | Martin Perez |
Win | W/L | Loss |
6.0 | IP | 4.0 |
11 | Strikeouts | 1 |
6 | Hits | 8 |
1.50 | ERA | 13.50 |
Washington | Boston | |
Victor Robles | Player | Jose Peraza |
3 | Hits | 2 |
0 | RBI | 0 |
0 | HR | 0 |
4 | TB | 3 |
.750 | Avg | .500 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
Washington | 16 | 3 | 30 | .400 | 15 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Boston | 10 | 0 | 12 | .278 | 19 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |