Rafael Devers delivers clutch two-run double, Red Sox beat Nationals 4-2

Washington Nationals manager Davey Martinez was in an unenviable spot. With the game tied at 2-2 and a man on second in the eighth, he could have Robert Garcia face Tyler O’Neill, who entered Saturday hitting .323 against left-handers, or he could intentionally walk O’Neill and opt for the lefty-on-lefty matchup.

The only problem, that lefty was Rafael Devers.

After a week in which the Red Sox repeatedly failed to come through with men in scoring position, Devers finally delivered with a bases-clearing two-run double to give his team a badly needed 4-2 win.

Devers fouled off four straight fastballs to stay alive before ripping a hard line drive the other way over the head of Nationals left fielder Eddie Rosario, and following the game Devers said he couldn’t think of a single time an opposing team had ever intentionally walked a batter to face him.

“I think this is the first time,” Devers said via translator Carlos Villoria Benítez, though according to Baseball Reference it has happened at least once before, back on Sept. 6, 2021 against Tampa Bay.

While Devers’ double was the decisive blow, Saturday marked the most complete team effort the Red Sox have put together all week. Starting pitcher Cooper Criswell led the way, striking out a career-high nine batters while allowing just two runs over five innings.

Both runs Criswell allowed were wind-aided solo home runs to the Green Monster, the first a shot by Joey Meneses in the top of the second inning and the other a lofted fly ball by Eddie Rosario that barely stayed fair in the fifth and was upheld upon review.

It was the latest strong outing for Criswell, who was added to the rotation largely in response to the club’s glut of injuries but who has proven more than just a placeholder. The 27-year-old now boasts a 2.10 ERA over 25.2 innings on the season and the Red Sox are a perfect 5-0 in his starts.

“He’s been really good for us,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.

Offensively the Red Sox couldn’t get much traffic against the Nationals’ pitching staff — starter Jake Irvin allowed two runs on four hits and no walks over seven strong innings — but unlike in recent games the club actually did capitalize on some of the few chances they got.

Wilyer Abreu, back in the lineup after coming off the bench Friday night, barely missed a home run to dead center in his first at bat, crushing a flyout 380 feet that potentially could have been a home run if the wind weren’t blowing in. His second time up he left no room for doubt, smoking a solo shot into the bullpen to tie the game at 1-1 in the third.

After Rosario put the Nationals back in front, the Red Sox finally broke their streak of stranding runners in scoring position to tie the game. David Hamilton reached on a fielder’s choice and eventually came around to score on an RBI double off the wall by Jarren Duran.

Prior to that knock, the Red Sox had gone 28 straight plate appearances with men in scoring position without plating a run. That streak extended back to the sixth inning of Tuesday’s loss in Atlanta, when Ceddanne Rafaela drove in Vaughn Grissom on a slow comebacker that bounced off the pitcher. That itself was the only hit Boston had in a game where the club otherwise went 1 for 14 with runners in scoring position.

The decisive sequence in the bottom of the eighth came after Rob Refsnyder singled and Romy Gonzalez reached on a fielder’s choice. That brought up O’Neill, and ultimately the Nationals opted to intentionally walk him and try their luck with Devers, which didn’t work out.

With the win Boston (20-19) is back over .500 and snaps its three-game losing streak. The Red Sox will look to win the series on Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for 1:35 p.m.