WASHINGTON — Rick Porcello hit a three-run double off former teammate Max Scherzer and allowed two runs in six innings to power the Boston Red Sox to a 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals in the opener of their three-game interleague series Monday night.
Porcello’s first major league extra-base hit came in the second inning on an 0-2 pitch after the Nationals intentionally walked Jackie Bradley Jr. to pitch to him. His .156 batting average in just 35 plate appearances made it appear to be the right calculation, but Porcello drove Scherzer’s 96 mph fastball over the head of Juan Soto in left center for his first RBIs since 2009.
Scherzer and Porcello were teammates for five seasons with the Detroit Tigers.
On the mound, Porcello (10-3) struck out five and limited the damage to solo home runs by Anthony Rendon and Daniel Murphy. Scherzer (10-5) struck out nine and kept the Red Sox off the board except for Porcello’s bases-clearing double and became the 11th pitcher to reach 1,000 strikeouts with two different teams.