Game 86: Nats at Red Sox

The potent Nationals lineup is at historic Fenway Park to face a Boston rotation that has produced 11 consecutive quality starts

BOSTON – Hello from the one and only Fenway Park, where tonight the Nationals open a three-game series against a suddenly resurgent Red Sox club that’s 10 games under .500 for the season but just swept a four-game series against the Yankees and has been riding a dominant rotation that has produced 11 consecutive quality starts. So, this shapes up as an intriguing battle between the potent Nats lineup and the impressive Boston pitching staff.

Though Luis García Jr. (rightfully) garnered all the attention Sunday in Baltimore, James Wood also had his best offensive game in at least a week, Dylan Crews continued to crush the ball and the lineup as a whole showed way more patience that it had in a while. Those are all encouraging signs heading into tonight’s game against left-hander Ranger Suarez, who owns a 2.83 ERA, 1.137 WHIP and more strikeouts (84) than innings pitched (82 2/3) this season.

With PJ Poulin unavailable after pitching the last two days (including a six-out save Sunday), Miles Mikolas gets the start for the Nationals, no opener in this case. The right-hander continues his midseason renaissance, having allowed zero earned runs in three of his last four outings.

The Nats made multiple roster moves involving their bullpen today, placing both Mitchell Parker and Richard Lovelady on the 15-day IL and recalling both Carson Palmquist and Riley Cornelio. Scroll down below the lineups for more …

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at BOSTON RED SOX
Where: Fenway Park
Gametime: 7:10 p.m. EDT
TV: Nationals TV (channel listings)
Radio: 106.7 FM
Weather: Clear, 74 degrees, 7 mph in from right

NATIONALS
LF James Wood
DH Andrés Chaparro
3B Curtis Mead
SS CJ Abrams
RF Dylan Crews
CF Jacob Young
1B Luis García Jr.
2B Nasim Nuñez
C Keibert Ruiz

RHP Miles Mikolas

RED SOX
DH Masataka Yoshida
CF Ceddane Rafaela
RF Wilyer Abreu
1B Willson Contreras
LF Jarren Duran
3B Caleb Durbin
2B Anthony Seigler
C Omar Narvaez
SS Tsung-Che Cheng

LHP Ranger Suarez

Photo by Billy Sabatini / ALL-PRO REELS

PARKER, LOVELADY PLACED ON 15-DAY IL

The Nationals’ decision to place Mitchell Parker on the IL today did not come as a surprise, given the way he departed Sunday’s game in Baltimore after seeing his velocity drop 5 mph in the span of two pitches. The decision to also place Richard Lovelady on the IL was not anticipated, though it turns out he was dealing with a sore upper arm for several days.

For now, Parker’s injury is being classified as elbow inflammation, but the club is still waiting for results of an MRI taken earlier today that could show a more serious ailment.

The injury occurred with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, after Parker had retired the first five batters he faced across two innings but then served up a two-run homer to Jackson Holliday. He followed that up with back-to-back, 95-mph fastball way above the zone to Taylor Ward, then back-to-back fastballs in the same area that dropped in velocity to 89-90 mph, causing immediate concern in the Nats dugout.

“I thought the stuff was the best we’d seen,” manager Blake Butera said. “I don’t know if that was a result of him trying to do more. It’s also not the first time I’ve seen someone get hurt when at the same time their stuff looked really good. It’s unfortunate. But he said he felt great up until those last couple pitches. He said there was nothing at all.”

Lovelady wound up taking the mound after Parker departed alongside head athletic trainer Dale Gilbert and retired Gunnar Henderson to end the seventh. He was supposed to return for the bottom of the eighth but reported soreness in his upper arm (which had apparently been bothering him earlier in the week and led to his unavailability for several days after he pitched three games in a row).

Lovelady has been diagnosed with left triceps soreness.