{"id":5998,"date":"2026-07-02T07:36:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T07:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5998"},"modified":"2026-07-02T07:36:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T07:36:12","slug":"powered-by-nasim-nunez-nationals-offense-pounds-red-sox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5998","title":{"rendered":"Powered by Nasim Nu\u00f1ez, Nationals\u2019 offense pounds Red Sox"},"content":{"rendered":"

The middle infielder logged his first homer of the season, and Washington never looked back in a 10-2 win.<\/strong><\/p>

Read more U.S., down a man, wins first World Cup knockout match in 24 years<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Washington’s Nasim Nu\u00f1ez cracked a 372-foot solo home run in the fourth inning Wednesday. (Charles Krupa\/Ap Photo\/Charles Krupa)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

BOSTON \u2014 Early in the second inning Wednesday afternoon, Nasim Nu\u00f1ez smiled, hopping giddily. The Washington Nationals middle infielder thought he might have chipped one over Fenway Park\u2019s Green Monster. The ball drifted barely foul, and he walked back, shaking his head.<\/p>\n

So when he launched the ball again toward left field two innings later, he didn\u2019t react until it landed 372 feet away, beyond the park\u2019s green perimeter. By then, the Nationals\u2019 dugout was revelrous as the 5-foot-8 Nu\u00f1ez, known primarily for his defense, hit his first homer of the season.<\/p>\n

The joy never subsided. His bomb opened what became a five-run fourth that chased Boston Red Sox starter Payton Tolle and made <\/b>the difference \u2014 and then some \u2014 in the Nationals\u2019 dominant 10-2 victory at Boston (37-48).<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t try to hit homers,\u201d Nu\u00f1ez said nonchalantly. \u201cThey just happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a sluggish three-run opening game, Washington\u2019s offense returned to its league-leading form, scoring 17 runs over its past 12 innings in this series. Tuesday night\u2019s victory was a small comeback, given the Nationals (45-43) trailed until that fourth-inning clearing of the benches<\/a>. The series clincher Wednesday was a beatdown from the start.<\/p>\n

After notching two triples against the Kansas City Royals in mid-June, Nu\u00f1ez broke out the Finding Nemo tune \u201cjust keep swimming.\u201d<\/a> His plate discipline had waned this year \u2014 his strikeout rate rising to 23.3 percent, the second-worst clip among Nationals players with at least 200 plate appearances.<\/p>\n

He needed to push forward. Cue the Dory cosplay.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, I felt some homers coming,\u201d he explained. \u201cUsually the pattern is: I start hitting homers late July, so because I guess the season starts a little bit earlier now that we\u2019re in the big leagues, [and] they come a little early.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019d been hitless in the series. But his homer showed off the depth that makes Washington\u2019s offense such a consistent threat, its eighth batter capable of sparking a three-home-run afternoon.<\/p>\n

After allowing two runs in the first, an Andr\u00e9s Chapparo homer headlining, Tolle regained his command. But two innings later, he loaded the bases and departed for reliever Ryan Watson.<\/p>\n

Nationals first baseman Luis Garc\u00eda Jr. had registered only two hits so far this week after an MLB-leading six home runs last week. Missing out on the action, he laced a single into the Monster, scoring two. Center fielder Jacob Young, who hadn\u2019t reached base since Friday, drove him Garc\u00eda with a double.<\/p>\n

By the time Washington\u2019s offense slowed, Nu\u00f1ez was back up to bat, still giggling. Wood later tacked on a three-run homer.<\/p>

Read more Balogun gets US\u2019s go-ahead goal against Bosnia and then red card<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice because it lets everybody play with their hair down knowing they don\u2019t have to put pressure on themselves to do it,\u201d Nu\u00f1ez said of Washington\u2019s offense. \u201cBecause if they don\u2019t get it done, they have faith the next person will.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among Washington\u2019s other reasons for joy: Starter Brad Lord only went 2\u2153 innings, with Andrew Alvarez replacing him and going 4 2\/3. And the Nationals\u2019 staff maintained the massive lead. In a week when two relievers \u2014 Mitchell Parker and Richard Lovelady \u2014 joined the 15-day injured list, the first likely in need of Tommy John surgery, signs of life from the bullpen were welcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was battle through nine,\u201d Alvarez said. \u201cHelped us get out of there, and thought I just did a good job of attacking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all feed off each other,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

One of the men called up to replace the injured, Riley Cornelio, walked in a run and allowed another to score in the eighth, struggling to keep his four-seam fastball near the zone. But he escaped the jam without any further damage, and the second replacement called up, Carson Palmquist, didn\u2019t allow a run in the ninth.<\/p>\n

With the injuries, Manager Blake Butera emphasized the need for his starters to go deep, saving arms as the Nationals consider their options with the trade deadline a month away. He found success the first two nights of the series, with Miles Mikolas and Cade Cavalli each stretching seven innings. The more notable was Cavalli, who registered 13 strikeouts in a Tuesday showing that was further dominated by his exchange with the Red Sox\u2019s Willson Contreras.<\/p>\n

Cavalli appeared to yell \u201csit down, boy\u201d at the Boston star after a strikeout, Contreras moved toward the mound, and the fracas ensued. He and Nationals President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni apologized for the exchange before Wednesday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t sleep because of it,\u201d Cavalli said. \u201cYou learn from that, and it\u2019ll never happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet a hefty win, spurred by Nu\u00f1ez\u2019s joyful spark, seemed to ease some of the tension.<\/p>\n

Notes:<\/b> Nationals top prospect shortstop Eli Willits was selected for the MLB All-Star Futures game, alongside righty Miguel Sime Jr.<\/p>\n

Willits, the team\u2019s top pick in 2025, is hitting .287, with 12 home runs, 50 RBI and 67 runs with low Class A Fredericksburg and high Class A Wilmington this season. Sime leads the entirety of the minors with 16.69 strikeouts per nine innings.<\/p>

Read more Hajime Moriyasu expected to stay on as Japan men\u2019s national team coach after World Cup exit<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The middle infielder logged his first homer of the season, and Washington never looked back in a 10-2 win.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5996,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nPowered by Nasim Nu\u00f1ez, Nationals\u2019 offense pounds Red Sox - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5998\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Powered by Nasim Nu\u00f1ez, Nationals\u2019 offense pounds Red Sox - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The middle infielder logged his first homer of the season, and Washington never looked back in a 10-2 win.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5998\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-02T07:36:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fd80ebdd4f29e22f1d3b27beef61b33f-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5998#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5998\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Powered by Nasim Nu\u00f1ez, Nationals\u2019 offense pounds Red Sox\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-02T07:36:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5998\"},\"wordCount\":948,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5998#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/b6be81aba26b2cc93b996fe19ccf34dd-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5998#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5998\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5998\",\"name\":\"Powered by Nasim Nu\u00f1ez, Nationals\u2019 offense pounds Red Sox - 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