A complete effort at the Fens

BOSTON - The Nationals seem to be enjoying their time in Beantown. Through four innings tonight, the Nats have six extra-base hits - five doubles (two of which are from Danny Espinosa) and a home run. They lead 6-2, having put up three runs in both the third and fourth innings, and seemingly everything Red Sox lefty Felix Doubront serves up is getting smoked out to the gaps. The hardest-hit ball of the night came off the bat of (who else?) Bryce Harper, who absolutely demolished a Doubront fastball out to center. The ball bounced off the wall just to the right of the triangle and directly next to the giant 420-foot marker. It's the sixth home run of the season for Harper, who sprinted around the bases and was back at home plate in the blink of an eye. Meanwhile, Stephen Strasburg has allowed two runs through four, but has left Red Sox hitters shaking their heads in disappointment (or is it amazement?) on their walk back to the dugout after their at-bats. Strasburg has struck out eight Sox hitters, showing a fastball that has hit 100 mph on the stadium gun and that is consistently hitting 97 mph, and a changeup that has been downright nasty. The only negative from Strasburg so far, other than the two-out, two-run double he surrendered to Mike Aviles in the second, is his pitch count, which is at 72 already. You want some quality defense to go with your powerful offense and filthy pitching? You got it. Xavier Nady made one of the Nats' top defensive plays of this season so far in the third, racing back to the track and robbing Adrian Gonzalez of a home run by reaching over the short fence and snaring a long drive. Nady had the fence hit him squarely in the ribs, but he hung onto the ball, and took a homer away from the struggling Gonzalez.