Andrés Chaparro and Nasim Nuñez homer for first time this season as Nationals rout Red Sox 10-2

Washington’s offense jumped out early and stayed there on Wednesday afternoon, as the Nationals built a 10-2 rout of the Red Sox to start the calendar month on a high note. The biggest individual theme of the day was milestone timing, with Andrés Chaparro and Nasim Nuñez each recording their first home run of the season, coming after both made the Opening Day roster.

Chaparro’s home run added to Washington’s momentum in a game that never really tightened after the Nationals took control. For a player who has already reached the majors this spring, the first dinger of the year matters both as a personal exhale and as a concrete report that the power stroke is arriving during the stretch run.

Nuñez followed with his first homer of the season, extending the lead and pushing the game further out of reach. In a matchup against a rival the Nationals have often struggled to separate from early, extra-base hits from players who are already part of the regular mix can be the difference between a competitive inning and a full-scale chase of the bullpen.

The 10-2 final score reflects not just one or two key swings, but a sustained output from a Nationals lineup that continued to manufacture damage once it found scoring opportunities. With both first home runs arriving in the same afternoon, Washington’s hitters were able to reinforce their performance through multiple at-bats rather than depending on a single signature moment.

Because both Chaparro and Nuñez were on the Opening Day roster, their early-season production had already been visible in the way they were trusted to play at the start of the year. Their first home runs arriving on July 1 suggests that while the season had progressed, the power element was still catching up to the rest of their overall contributions.

What to watch next for the Nationals is whether this game becomes a springboard for repeatable offensive patterns. A first home run can sometimes be followed by multiple extra-base hits over the next few weeks, or it can remain an isolated highlight if pitchers adjust quickly. For Chaparro and Nuñez in particular, the next challenge is turning one breakthrough into consistent at-bats that produce runs even when the ball is not leaving the yard.

For the Red Sox, the 10-2 margin underscores a problem that often shows up in the second and third turns through a lineup: when premium swings start landing, the pressure rises and the margin for error shrinks for every subsequent pitch. Boston will look to respond by tightening execution and limiting the next opponent’s ability to convert opportunities into extra-base damage.