BOSTON — The good vibes at Fenway Park lasted one series, at least.After sweeping the New York Yankees in a four-game series this past weekend and taking the first game against the Washington Nationals, the Boston Red Sox had hopes of momentum-swinging homestand to turn their season around.Instead, they dropped the final two games to the Nationals, with a lopsided 10-2 loss on Wednesday in a series defined by Tuesday’s benches-clearing brawl.With the loss, the Red Sox finished a stretch of 16 days in a row with a game at 8-8. The team is off Thursday before they play nine games on the road to close out the first half.Despite the disappointing ending to the homestand, interim manager Chad Tracy focused on the positives.“I called it a really good homestand (before the game), could have been a great homestand,” Tracy said. “We won’t get on the plane feeling like 5-2 is bad. You know we’re in a much better position than we were when we got back home (last week).”Payton Tolle, coming off a start on Friday in which he pitched through illness but flirted with perfection, struggled on Wednesday in humid conditions as the Nationals ballooned his pitch count early, forcing him out of the game after just three-plus innings. He allowed a two-run homer in the first and a solo homer in the fourth before exiting the game with no outs and the bases loaded.
Heat, Nationals take wind out of Red Sox’s sails as promising homestand ends poorly
The Red Sox won their first five games on this homestand but stumbled in the last two and now finish the first half on the road.












