Final, Nationals 4-2: For the second straight game against the Red Sox, Nationals closer Tyler Clippard has notched a save.
Pitching was the difference once again. This time around, Gio Gonzalez silenced Boston's bats with five strikeouts.
Daisuke Matsuzaka showed positive signs in his return, racking up eight strikeouts and hitting his spots. But one inning haunted him at the end of the day.
Mid 9th, Nationals 4-2: Alfredo Aceves has seemingly returned back to his normal self — as opposed to last week — and struck out two batters.
The Red Sox are still in striking distance of turning this around, so it'll take some clutch hits from the offense. Nationals closer Tyler Clippard will attempt to shut it down and collect the save.
End 8th, Nationals 4-2: Aside from a hiccup in the seventh, the Nationals' bullpen has impressed in the series in Fenway Park.
The group held it down in the eighth, getting a 1-2-3 inning and disposing of the Sox order.
Now, Alfredo Aceves is coming into the game to finish it off and possibly hoping the Sox can restore order with heroics.
Mid 8th, Nationals 4-2: Franklin Morales is flummoxing the Nationals with his curveball and two-seamer and racked up two strikeouts.
That's three strikeouts for Morales through three innings. He's been a stalwart in the bullpen and I wouldn't be surprised if he goes one more inning for the Sox.
End 7th, Nationals 4-2: Red Sox skipper Bobby Valentine made the decision of pinch hitting Jarrod Saltalamacchia for Kelly Shoppach.
And it worked. With the bases juiced, Saltalamacchia ripped a single off the Green Monster that scored two runs.
He did it even with the pitching change from the Nationals. Davey Johnson brought lefty Mike Gonzalez to face Saltalamacchia.
6:14 p.m.: Gio Gonzalez has exited after tossing 6 1/3 frames while striking out five batters.
Mid 7th, Nationals 4-0: Franklin Morales continues to be a threat from the bullpen, tossing his second straight scoreless inning.
With that frame — which included one strikeout — Morales lowered his ERA to 3.18. That was a nice bounce back after a subpar start in the beginning of the year.
He really deserved the extended time off after throwing 4 1/3 innings against the Blue Jays.
End 6th, Nationals 4-0: Dustin Pedroia appeared to twist his ankle upon getting to the first base bag.
Trainers examined him and the Red Sox second baseman elected to stay in the game. They couldn't capitalize as David Ortiz grounded out.
The Nationals pulled the shift on him and forced him to ground out exactly where they wanted him to.
Mid 6th, Nationals 4-0: Franklin Morales entered to pitch for the Red Sox, signaling the end of Matsuzaka's day.
He threw five innings and allowed five hits, four runs, one walk, eight strikeouts. Matsuzaka threw 80 pitches, 52 of them for strikes.
It was a mixed bag of good and bad results.
End 5th, Nationals 4-0: With that steal, Mike Aviles has seven base swipes this season. That leads the team.
And at this point, the Red Sox only have 21 steals for the season, one of the lowest totals in all of the majors.
But the Red Sox couldn't capitalize with a runner on scoring position as Kelly Shoppach struck out.
Mid 5th, Nationals 4-0: Despite the hiccup, Matsuzaka is still dealing against the Nationals, collecting two strikeouts in the fifth.
The most impressive part was that Matsuzaka kept his cool under pressure despite yielding a leadoff double to Rick Ankiel.
In his defense, he isn't getting much run support on this day to even be in position for a win.
End 4th, Nationals 4-0: Gio Gonzalez continues to cruise, striking out Adrian Gonzalez and shutting down Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz.
Gonzalez was a former teammate of Ryan Sweeney and Andrew Bailey in Oakland, so clearly those guys were aware of the southpaw's potential.
Mid 4th, Nationals 4-0: After all that progress, Matsuzaka unraveled in the fourth inning, allowing two singles and a double.
He paid for it as the Nationals pounced on him for three runs, ending any thoughts of a sharp outing for Matsuzaka.
Franklin Morales was warming up in the bullpen and could be making an appearance.
End 3rd, Nationals 1-0: Gio Gonzalez got Darnell McDonald to fly out to right field.
Before the game, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said he was deciding between Darnell McDonald and Marlon Byrd on who to designate for assignment to activate Matsuzaka.
McDonald's familiarity with the Red Sox and ability to hit left-handers for power was the difference.
Mid 3rd, Nationals 1-0: Daisuke Matsuzaka continued to mix his pitches well and stifle the Nationals' batters.
He struck out Rick Ankiel and Lombardozzi once again, making that five strikeouts through three innings.
He's been relatively efficient as well, which works in his favor, but I wouldn't anticipate a long start.
End 2nd, Nationals 1-0: David Ortiz showed some nifty self-awareness on the base paths, beating the tag on Will Middlebrooks' grounder.
But the interesting part of the inning was when Gio Gonzalez and Jesus Flores got mixed up on a pitch. As a result, Gonzalez's pitch nailed Flores in an area where men shouldn't be hit.
Fortunately for the catcher, he shook it off.
Mid 2nd, Nationals 1-0: After a strong first inning, Matsuzaka started awry in the second, allowing a leadoff shot to Adam LaRoche.
But after yielding the blast, Matsuzaka settled down, striking out Michael Morse, getting Ian Desmond to ground out and Danny Espinosa to fly out.
It'll be interesting to see how he responds.
End 1st, 0-0: Daniel Nava put a good piece of wood during his first at-bat, but it wound up being a deep fly out.
Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez has been a great addition to Washington's starting rotation and he continued to pitch well, striking out Dustin Pedroia.
Mid 1st, 0-0: That was a very nice first impression for Daisuke Matsuzaka in his return from Tommy John surgery.
He struck Steve Lombardozzi on three pitches and got Ryan Zimmerman whiffing on a nasty curveball.
He emerged to the Red Sox dugout with fans applauding.
3 p.m.: Here are the lineups.
Red Sox
Daniel Nava LF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
Adrian Gonzalez RF
David Ortiz DH
Kevin Youkilis 1B
Will Middlebrooks 3B
Mike Aviles SS
Darnell McDonald CF
Kelly Shoppach C
Daisuke Matsuzaka P
Nationals
Steve Lombardozzi LF
Bryce Harper RF
Ryan Zimmerman 3B
Adam LaRoche 1B
Michael Morse DH
Ian Desmond SS
Danny Espinosa 2B
Rick Ankiel CF
Jesus Flores C
Gio Gonzalez P
8 a.m. ET: For the first time in more than a year, Daisuke Matsuzaka will take the mound for the Red Sox (29-29). He'll be facing the Nationals (33-23). Matsuzaka's start will be just a day shy of the one-year anniversary of when he underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. It'll mark his first start since May 16, 2011, when he yielded five runs to the Orioles.
The Japanese hurler will look to turn the page after a year away from the majors. He'll go up against Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez, who is 7-2 with a 2.31 ERA this season. Gonzalez suffered his first lost in six starts on Sunday, after giving up three earned runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings against the Braves. In his last three starts, he has a 2.55 ERA with 24 strikeouts.
For more details and analysis from Fenway, follow NESN.com's live blog. Tune into NESN's pregame show at 3 p.m. First pitch is scheduled for 4:05 p.m.
