Rick Porcello knocked in three runs with a double off Max Scherzer and gave the Red Sox six solid innings as Boston defeated the Washington Nationals 4-3 on Monday.

Porcello had gone just 5-for-32 at the plate for his career. He had no extra-base hits and just two RBI's.

Scherzer, a former teammate of Porcello's in Detroit (2010-14), intentionally waked Jackie Bradley Jr. to load the bases in the top of the second.

Porcello lined an 0-2 fastball to the gap in left-center field, giving the Red Sox a 3-0 lead.

Porcello pitched six innings, allowing two runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out five. He gave up solo homers to Anthony Rendon in the fourth and Daniel Murphy in the sixth.

Mookie Betts gave the Red Sox a 4-2 lead in the seventh with a solo blast to left-center field, his 21st home run of the season.

Bryce Harper made the score 4-3 in the 8th by taking Joe Kelly deep for the game's fourth home run, another solo bomb.

Craig Kimbrel walked one and struck out one over 1.1 innings to earn his 25th save of the season.

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