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BOSTON — The eighth inning presented Dave Martinez with a classic bullpen dilemma. It’s a choice that managers dread but one they contemplate beforehand, just in case a tough decision must be made.

His Washington Nationals and the Boston Red Sox were deadlocked Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park. Martinez has faced many tough bullpen decisions and will tackle many more, but this time his choice helped swing the game in Boston’s favor as the Nationals lost, 4-2.

The situation: Left-hander Robert Garcia had faced the minimum three hitters required and recorded two outs in a 2-2 game. Right-hander Hunter Harvey was warming up in the bullpen as Boston slugger Tyler O’Neill stepped to the plate. Martinez appeared to have two options: walk O’Neill, a righty, to set up a matchup between Garcia and lefty Rafael Devers, Boston’s best hitter — or bring in Harvey, one of the Nationals’ top relievers, to take on O’Neill.

Martinez went with the first option, intentionally walking O’Neill after Garcia threw two change-ups low. Devers took Garcia’s first two pitches for balls, then fouled off four straight. Garcia had thrown five fastballs in a row before Devers lined his seventh pitch, another fastball, into left field. Eddie Rosario sprinted back, but the ball short-hopped the Green Monster as he leaped. Two Red Sox scored, and Kenley Jansen closed the door in the ninth.

“For me, my fastball is the best pitch,” Garcia said. “It has a lot of deception, a lot of life. It gets on guys quick. It’s hard for them to adjust. I’ve thrown multiple past some great lefties in this game. So in that situation, yeah, you can think slider. But if I threw that [fastball] right by him, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

Garcia, who has a 6.35 ERA in 15 appearances, returned from the injured list this past week and had pitched two scoreless innings in three games, giving Martinez a much-needed lefty arm. Martinez can’t control a pitcher’s execution, so you certainly can’t place the blame for Saturday’s loss solely on him. But there was an argument to bring in Harvey.

Martinez opted not to for two reasons. He was lining him up to face Boston’s Vaughn Grissom, the next batter, who is hitting .120 and was 0 for 3 on the afternoon. Martinez also said he was hoping to save Harvey for the ninth, even though closer Kyle Finnegan didn’t pitch <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/05/10/nationals-red-sox-patrick-corbin/" target=_blank>in Friday’s 5-1 win</a> and was fresh. Ultimately, Harvey never got the opportunity to pitch the ninth.

“I thought that was the right matchup,” Martinez said. “It was a good battle up there. Fouled a couple of good pitches off, and [Devers] got the best of him today. Garcia’s been throwing the ball good. He’s our left-handed guy, so we decided to go that route. Didn’t work out today, but I think I’d do it again tomorrow in a tie ballgame.”

An inning earlier, Martinez had faced another decision. Would he leave in Jake Irvin for the seventh? He did — and he was rewarded.

The teams were mostly even Saturday. Joey Meneses launched his first home run of the year to give the Nationals (19-19) a 1-0 lead in the second. In the third, Red Sox right fielder Wilyer Abreu launched a solo shot of his own.

Rosario responded with his third home run in five games, putting the Nationals back on top in the fifth. That lead wouldn’t last long: Jarren Duran had an RBI double for the Red Sox (20-19) to even the score in the bottom half.

Irvin was efficient, getting ahead of hitters and keeping them off balance. He didn’t walk anyone Saturday, and he got into only four three-ball counts. So Martinez kept Irvin in for the seventh, and he broke out in a sprint toward the mound.

“It’s something that you’ve got to want in that situation,” said Irvin, who has a 3.55 ERA. “It’s a team game, man. And being able to save those guys for the next couple of days is hopefully going to win us a couple of different ballgames there. So my job is to throw strikes, get deep, and that was the goal today.”

Michael Dwyer

Irvin hadn’t pitched more than six innings this season, but he got three groundouts in the seventh and, after the last, pumped his fist after completing a career-high seven innings. Irvin, who made his major league debut in May 2023, is continuing to establish himself as a reliable member of the Nationals’ rotation — he has allowed three earned runs or fewer in six of his eight starts this year.

He wouldn’t earn the win Saturday, though. The eighth inning could have been over without Garcia having to face O’Neill, but shortstop CJ Abrams made a throwing error on what could have been an inning-ending double play. Two batters later, Devers doubled to set up a rubber match Sunday.

“Right then and there, I thought, the way Robert’s been throwing the ball, we could get away with facing Devers,” Martinez said. “It didn’t work out.”

Northwestern University, BS in journalism and BA in African American studies

Andrew Golden covers the Washington Nationals for the Washington Post after previously assisting on the Commanders beat and sports breaking news team. Andrew started at the Post as an intern in 2021. 


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