Boston (58-29) won for the seventh time in its last nine games Tuesday night, getting three-run homers from Eduardo Nunez and Xander Bogaerts, and a two-run shot from J.D. Martinez in an 11-4 rout.
The Red Sox took an early 3-0 lead on the Nunez homer in the second inning, pulled away with a six-run fifth and saw Martinez cap the offensive explosion in the ninth. Martinez drove in four runs, increasing his major league-leading RBI total to 71.
“Just a good day,” Martinez told mlb.com. “We came out, we kept the bases occupied Johnathan Abram Jersey , pretty much gave ourselves a chance where we kept passing the baton and getting the next guy up. Had a big hit from Bogey there early in the game, and everyone pretty much kept feeding off that.”
Washington (42-42) matched Boston’s hit total (12) but couldn’t string them together or produce them at crucial moments. The Nationals remained seven games behind Atlanta in the NL East.
Washington’s Tanner Roark (3-10) saw his June struggles bleed into July as he allowed nine runs on 10 hits in seven innings while preserving a tired bullpen. After the Nationals closed to within 3-2 in the fourth, Roark was tagged in the fifth.
“If these guys would give our lineup a chance, we’ll start winning some games because we are playing better,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez told mlb.com regarding the big inning. “I see that. We came back and scored two runs, and the energy was great. We go back out there, and they come back and score six runs, and everything just goes dormant again.
Washington’s hopes for salvaging the finale rest with right-hander Erick Fedde (1-3, 6.00 ERA), who is replacing injured Stephen Strasburg in the rotation. Fedde picked up a win in his previous start despite allowing five runs and eight hits in five innings of a 17-7 win over the Phillies on Friday.
“My stuff wasn’t great today,” he told MASN.com. “But days like those it’s really nice when your team puts up 17 runs. I’ll take that. Hopefully next time when the games are close, I can be the one to keep it close.”
Wednesday will be Fedde’s first career appearance against Boston.
Boston left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez (9-3 Maxx Crosby Jersey , 4.11) will try to snap a two-start slump Wednesday morning. Last time out he gave up five runs on seven hits — including two home runs — in six innings of an 8-1 loss to the Yankees on Friday. It was his second straight loss after winning six straight starts.
“I missed a couple pitches down the plate and they made an adjustment,” Rodriguez told the Boston Herald. “No matter who you face, if you miss on the plate that’s what happens.”
Rodriguez has never faced the Nationals.
The Nationals may get some offensive help Wednesday with the possible return of first baseman Matt Adams (fractured finger), who went 0-for-3 in a rehab game Tuesday night for Double-A Harrisburg.
Another college football bowl season is upon us, and for those of you who don’t follow the college game religiously, the bowl season offers an opportunity to catch some of college football's brightest stars. Some of these players play at smaller schools, who rarely, if ever get national television coverage. These bowl games give the nation an opportunity to watch some players we have read about Hakeem Butler Jersey , but not given a chance to watch.The bowl season starts on December 20th this year and runs through till January 12th, where the season cumulates with college football's first playoff winner. Most bowl games have contracts with certain conferences, and will pit teams ranked in various conferences against each other. For example the Alamo Bowl will match a Big 12 team versus a Pac 12 team, this year that puts Kansas State up against UCLA. A school becomes “bowl-eligible” with a .500 record. In a 12-game season, that would mean six wins would make the school eligible for a bowl. With the multitude of bowls available now, most qualifying schools will find themselves playing in a bowl game, but scenarios could arise where there would be more eligible teams, then available slots in the games.For the purpose of this list Chris Lindstrom Jersey , we need not worry so much about the schools involved in these games, this list will focus on the star players. The future stars of the NFL will be showcased in these major bowl games, with many underclassmen contemplating their decision on declaring for the draft based on how well they perform in their final game. For the players these games hold a lot of weight. For the greater majority of the seniors these game will mark the last football game they will ever play. For the elite few they will move on to the NFL, and hope to carry on the success they had in college. You've got to believe that the NFL's bottom feeders like the Buccaneers, Titans, Raiders, Jets and Jaguars will be watching these games closely. The following list will look at 25 marquee players in these upcoming bowl games to watch.