Sox get down and dirty in hard-fought win

WASHINGTON -- Somewhat fittingly, the Red Sox scored the go-ahead run in their 5-4 victory over the Nationals on Tuesday night when Pablo Reyes had a great read on a wild pitch and dove in safely even though the ball took a generous carom back to catcher Keibert Ruiz.

This wasn’t a game filled with artistry. Instead, it was a game that Boston scratched and clawed to win.

Though it was only the fourth inning, Reyes was prepared for what turned out to be one of the biggest moments of the contest.

“I was focused and ready for that play before it happened,” he said. “I just got a good jump, but it surprised me when it hit that back net, so it went back to the catcher very close [to home plate]. On the way to home plate, I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to go, I’ve got to go.’ It was too close. And I had no chance to go back to third base, so I just kept going and made it to home plate.”

It was a winning play, and it offset a baserunning blunder just moments earlier, when Alex Verdugo tied the game with a sacrifice fly but Reese McGuire got thrown out trying to tag up and advance from first base.

“We made a bad baserunning mistake, and then we got lucky with the wild pitch,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “We cannot do that. You know, we went from bases loaded, no outs to man at third and two outs. So we cannot do that. There's no more excuses about that.”

Thanks to the heads-up play from Reyes, who helped spark the two-run rally with a double, McGuire’s mistake didn’t haunt the Red Sox.

“That’s something we talked about. And you’ve just got to be alert,” said Cora. “[Reyes] did an outstanding job going from second to third [on Verdugo’s sac fly]. And then, you know, he saw the ball in the dirt, took off and scored the run.”

The run by Reyes was the last time either team scored.

At this point of the season, with 43 games left and the 63-56 Sox trailing the 67-54 Blue Jays by three games for the final American League Wild Card spot, style points mean little, but heady plays mean a lot.

Playing their first game at Nationals Park since the thrilling Game No. 162 in 2021 that clinched a postseason spot, Boston had an auspicious start to this one when Verdugo belted the fourth pitch of the game over the wall in right-center for a home run.

But don’t let the leadoff homer fool you. The Red Sox had to work for everything they got from that point on.

On a night Nick Pivetta didn’t have his best stuff -- allowing four runs on five hits and three walks over 4 1/3 innings, while striking out seven -- his teammates picked him up.

“I didn’t compete with the strike zone very well tonight,” said Pivetta. “I think we take the positives from this. The offense did a tremendous job picking me up when [it] needed to.”

Again, it was about the little things. With two outs in the third, Rafael Devers and Trevor Story stayed patient and worked walks. That brought Triston Casas to the plate, and he hammered a two-run single to right on a 3-2 count to give the Red Sox a 3-0 lead.

“They had a good approach,” said Nats starter Josiah Gray. “They were not swinging and missing much. They were laying off some good pitches and spoiling some good pitches. So, hats off to them for their approach.”

That lead slipped away in the bottom of the third, when Pivetta gave up a four-spot.

After the Red Sox took the lead right back, the bullpen was nearly flawless the rest of the way, giving up one hit and no walks over the final 4 2/3 scoreless innings.

At this time of the season, nothing steadies a team more than a shutdown bullpen. Brennan Bernardino, John Schreiber, Chris Martin, Josh Winckowski and Kenley Jansen (who earned career save No. 419) took this one home.

“I think there's a lot of us down there right now that are in pretty good form and throwing the ball really well, throwing a lot of strikes,” said Winckowski. “I think we're definitely pushing each other. I think Kenley is pushing all of us with the stability and consistency that he's had, as well as Martin. Getting Schreiber and [Garrett] Whitlock back is a huge boost.”