Playtime is over. Now comes the hard part. The Red Sox took care of business over the last week, stomping on the Washington Nationals and the Colorado Rockies. The former are merely bad; the latter are truly wretched.

Jordan Hicks allowed a run in the ninth but earned the save as the Red Sox took care of business in the first of two series against terrible teams. Up next is a three-game home set against the Rockies.

Yoshida strengthens the lineup at a time when Boston has been rolling, scoring 10 or more runs in six of its last 11 games.

BOTTOM LINE: The Boston Red Sox will try to sweep a three-game series with a win over the Washington Nationals. Washington has a 37-52 record overall and an 18-27 record in home games. The Nationals have gone 20-12 in games when they did not allow a home run.

Immediately after getting swept by the Red Sox, Nationals owner Mark Lerner fired general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez, abruptly ending a major chapter in franchise history.

Shinnosuke Ogasawara’s MLB debut wasn’t enough to avoid major change at Nationals Park.

The full rosters for the 2025 MLB All-Star Game were released on Sunday. And two former Boston Red Sox stars were among the players left off.