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BOSTON — Instant reactions from the Red Sox’ 8-1 loss to the Washington Nationals Tuesday night at Fenway Park:
1) Washington starter Cade Cavalli allowed a leadoff double to Anthony Seigler. After that, he was literally unhittable. The only other baserunner against him was on an error three batters after Seigler’s double. He retired the final 19 batters he faced as the Red Sox offense nosedived and the Sox suffered an 8-1 defeat with Washington beating up the bullpen with seven unanswered runs.
2) Chaos reigned in the bottom of the fourth inning, and it once again centered around Willson Contreras. The Red Sox first baseman took a called third strike and as he was walking back to the dugout, appeared to react to something said to him by Cavalli. Contreras then began walking to the mound, jawing with Cavalli and the benches and bullpens emptied. At one point, Contreras fired his batting helmet at Cavalli but had it strike Washington first baseman Andres Chaparro. Contreras, Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy and reserve Nate Eaton were ejected along with Nationals pitcher Miles Mikolas. Expect a suspension of some sort in the coming days for Contreras.
3)The Red Sox’ streak of quality starts - six or more innings pitched, three earned runs or fewer allowed - was ended at 12 when starter Connelly Early was pulled after four innings (no runs allowed) despite having thrown just 61 pitches. The club later announced that Early was lifted with left elbow discomfort. The Red Sox’ streak of quality starts was their longest since 1988.
4) Seigler got his third shot at the leadoff spot in the lineup and it didn’t take long for him to make an impact. In the bottom of the first, Seigler laced a double to left, took third on a groundout and came around to score the game’s first run when Washington third baseman Curtis Mead couldn’t cleanly field a chopper from Contreras. Seigler has brought some energy to the Red Sox and it hasn’t hurt that he’s produced, too, contributing solid defense at second base and some offense to boot.
5) During their recent offensive uptick, the Red Sox had been doing a far better job of putting the ball in play. But that came to an abrupt halt Tuesday night. Cavalli got a ton of swing-and-miss against them. In the second, he struck out the side, then added two more swinging strikeouts in the third before piling up two more in the fourth inning for a total of eight through the first four innings. Cavalli finished with a career high of 13 strikeouts in his seven innings.
6) Reliever Justin Slaten continues to struggle. He inherited a first-and-second jam with one out in the seventh and quickly allowed a run-scoring single, followed two hitters later by a wall-scraping two-run double. It marked the fifth time since May 26 that Slaten had yielded multiple runs in an outing.
7) Reliever Tommy Kahnle, who forced his way onto the major league roster with an opt-out clause earlier this month, may be in the process of pitching himself off the team. After initially posting five scoreless innings, he was shelled for four runs in the eighth Tuesday night and has now allowed eight runs in his last four outings.
8) The series concludes with an afternoon game Wednesday and a scheduled 1:35 p.m. start. The Sox will send lefty Payton Tolle (4-5, 2.78) vs. lefty Andrew Alvarez (1-1, 3.44). After the game, the Red Sox will fly to Anaheim for the start of a three-city, nine-game road trip.
More Red Sox coverage
- What Red Sox’ Willson Contreras said after second ejection in two games; ‘I snapped’
- Red Sox make trade with A’s, shore up corner infield depth
- Red Sox’ Willson Contreras about to discover he can’t lead his team while serving suspension | Sean McAdam
- Red Sox cut bait with veteran reliever after poor outing; are more roster moves coming?
- Chad Tracy: Red Sox-Nationals brawl caused by ‘Sit down, boy’ comment toward Willson Contreras
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