BOSTON – Following a benches-clearing melee, Nationals starting pitcher Cade Cavalli delivered a 13-strikeout performance to top the Red Sox, 8-1, on Tuesday at Fenway Park.
Cavalli retired 19 batters in a row to conclude a seven-inning outing in which he allowed just one hit (to the first batter of the game) and one unearned run.
He is the first Nationals pitcher to throw seven or more innings with 10 or more strikeouts and allow one hit or fewer since Max Scherzer on April 14, 2018, against the Rockies.
Cavalli was involved in a fracas with Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras following a strikeout in the fourth inning. Nationals right-hander Miles Mikolas, Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy and Red Sox utility player Nate Eaton were ejected.
Cavalli remained in the game and went on to set a career high in strikeouts.
CJ Abrams gave the Nationals insurance runs in the eighth inning with his 18th homer of the season, a Statcast-projected 402-foot dinger off right-hander Tommy Kahnle. The bottom of the lineup would then add on three more runs with three hits and a walk against Kahnle by the time the inning was over.