Game 37 lineups: Nats at Red Sox

BOSTON – Hello from historic (and chilly) Fenway Park! This weekend is my first time shipping up to Boston since I was a young lad, a trip I don’t necessarily remember. So I’m very excited to be your trusty beat reporter live from Bah-stan.

The Nats are nearing the end of a wicked 14-game stretch against American League teams. After these three games against the Red Sox, they’ll head to the south side of Chicago to face a different shade of sox and wrap up three weeks’ worth of interleague play. Entering tonight, the Nats are 7-7 against AL teams and 11-8 on the road.

Patrick Corbin makes his eighth start in the opener. He’s 0-3 with a 6.45 ERA and 1.8095 WHIP. Though he once again got roughed up early in his last outing, he actually turned in a quality start with three runs over six innings against the Blue Jays. The veteran lefty needs to get off to better starts, however: He’s given up 16 runs in innings 1-3 compared to nine in innings 4-6.

Corbin is 0-2 with an 8.22 ERA and 2.478 WHIP in two career starts at Fenway, the last one coming in 2016.

Tanner Houck makes his eighth start for the Red Sox, going 3-3 with a 1.99 ERA and 0.971 WHIP over his first seven with all but one coming in as a quality start. He pitched a complete-game shutout against the Guardians on April 17, while holding them to just three hits and striking out nine. He has pitched three scoreless outings on the year. He has a 9.1 strikeout-per-nine-innings rate and his 2.08 Fielding Independent Pitching leads the major leagues.

Houck pitched five scoreless innings with eight strikeouts in his only start against the Nats back in 2021.

The Nats are 15-24 all-time against the Red Sox, including 5-13 at Fenway Park. They were last here in August 2020 (lost series 1-2) and April 2015 (lost series 1-2).

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at BOSTON RED SOX
Where: Fenway Park
Gametime: 7:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 50 degrees, wind 11 mph in from right field

NATIONALS
CF Jacob Young
SS CJ Abrams
2B Luis García Jr.
1B Joey Meneses
DH Jesse Winker
C Keibert Ruiz
LF Eddie Rosario
3B Trey Lipscomb
RF Victor Robles

LHP Patrick Corbin

RED SOX
LF Jarren Duran
DH Rob Refsnyder
RF Tyler O’Neill
3B Rafael Devers
C Connor Wong
2B Vaughn Grissom
1B Garrett Cooper
SS Romy Gonzalez
CF Ceddanne Rafaeala

RHP Tanner Houck