BOSTON -- On July 1, two players who made the Opening Day roster hit their first home run of the season.
Andres Chaparro and Nasim Nuñez connected on their first dingers in the Nationals’ 10-2 win over the Red Sox on Wednesday afternoon at Fenway Park.
Both players went yard against lefty starter Payton Tolle as the Nationals improved to 11-3-1 in road series this season. Meanwhile, Brad Lord, Andrew Alvarez, Riley Cornelio and Carson Palmquist combined to allow just two runs.
“To see guys in the bottom of the order or guys that aren’t starting every single night come through for us and step up, that’s what it takes to be a winning ball club and have success in this league,” said manager Blake Butera. “You need all one through 13 to be able to contribute. Hats off to our guys for doing so.”
Batting in the No. 3 spot, the right-handed-hitting Chaparro did his damage early against Tolle. Chaparro jumped on a 95.3 four-seamer, sending it a Statcast-projected 396 feet at 106.1 mph into the Green Monster seats. The shot would have counted as a home run in all 30 ballparks.
“[It means] a lot,” Chaparro. “Obviously I’m trying to take every opportunity the team is giving me to play, every at-bat and make the most out of it. … I’m glad I was able to connect on that today.”
Chaparro entered the game batting .156 in 25 games this season. His farthest-hit ball of the season was a 390-foot flyout to center field on Opening Day at Wrigley Field.
Chaparro had not homered since Aug. 27, 2025, at Yankee Stadium.
“He’s given us good at-bats against left-handed pitchers -- that’s why he’s here,” Butera said. “He’s hit some balls hard, too, right at people a lot of times. But the work he’s put in, he’s been ready when his name’s called. Really happy for him and happy for us with that home run.”
Three innings later, Nuñez joined the home run club. He barreled a 92.4 mph first-pitch fastball 372 feet to the Green Monster. The 101.5 mph solo homer bounced off the National Car Rental sign.
“It was pretty lit,” Nuñez said. “It was super cool, and the fact that it went over the Green Monster.”
This was Nuñez’s first home run in 85 games, since he homered in back-to-back games on Sept. 21-22, 2025, in New York and Atlanta. His farthest-hit ball this season is a 381-foot triple on June 16 against the Royals.
The Nationals' dugout greeted Nuñez with the silent treatment, customary for a player’s first career home run. Nuñez was quick to remind them it was in fact his fifth big league homer.
“I was like, 'I hit a homer here [in the Majors] before, don’t do that,'” Nuñez said with a laugh. “'Y'all playing with me.'”
Pending the results of the late Wednesday games, the Nationals rank second in the NL with 117 home runs as a team and first in the Majors with 289 extra-base hits. With the additions of Chaparro and Nuñez, 15 players have homered for Washington this season. James Wood leads the team with 22, including one on Wednesday. CJ Abrams also hit his 18th homer on Tuesday.
“It’s nice because it lets everyone play with their hair down, like they don’t have to put pressure on themselves to do it,” Nuñez said. “Because if they don’t get it done and they have faith that the next person will, so that’s going to help people play a little bit more free and more fun, and we could win more.”