Cavalli Deals a 13-K Gem as Washington Erupts 8-1

Cade Cavalli threw 7.0 innings of one-hit, zero-walk ball with 13 strikeouts, and Washington's offense detonated for seven runs across the seventh and eighth innings to bury Boston 8-1. The Nationals didn't just win — they dismantled the Red Sox in every phase of the game.

Boston actually drew first blood in the first inning when Seigler scored on a fielding error by third baseman Mead, putting the Red Sox up 1-0. That lead held for four innings, which looks, in hindsight, like borrowed time. Cavalli was untouchable — one hit, no walks, 13 punchouts over seven innings — and it was only a matter of when Washington's lineup would break through, not if. The answer came in the fifth, when James Wood singled to right to score Daylen Lile and knot it at 1-1.

The game cracked open in the seventh. Keibert Ruiz reached on an infield single to score Tena and push Washington ahead 2-1, and then came the decisive blow: Luis García Jr. doubled to center, scoring Nuñez and Ruiz to make it 4-1. That two-run double swung Boston's win probability from 39% to 14% — a 25-point collapse in a single at-bat. The Red Sox, already short-handed with Marcelo Mayer on the 10-day IL with a left forearm injury, had no answer for what followed. CJ Abrams launched a 402-foot homer to right center in the eighth to push it to 5-1, and Washington wasn't done. Ruiz doubled to right to score Nuñez and Lile, making it 7-1, and Wood capped the inning with a double to center that scored Ruiz for the final margin of 8-1.

The story of the night was Cavalli, full stop. A one-hitter with 13 strikeouts and zero walks is the kind of line that makes a rotation look like a weapon. But the offensive performance deserves its own credit: Ruiz went 2-for-3 with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored, Wood finished 3-for-5 with 2 RBI, and Lile crossed the plate twice. Washington appears to have found a formula here — elite starting pitching holding a game close long enough for a deep, patient lineup to take over late. Whether that translates going forward is a question for another night, but on June 30, the Nationals looked like a team operating at a different level than the Red Sox entirely.