The Red Sox were taking batting practice off Stephen Strasburg on Tuesday night and were on their way to crushing the second ace the Washington Nationals threw at them in as many days, when target practice became the name of the game.
The occasionally-wild Justin Masterson, baseball’s hit-by-pitch leader since the beginning of 2010, plunked two Nationals in the back during the fifth inning, walked another, allowed three hits and threw a pickoff attempt into the outfield as he relinquished a four-run lead and left the Red Sox trying to hit their way back into the game.
The Nationals hit them instead.