BOSTON (Interstat) — Ranger Suarez pitched six strong innings and Willson Contreras hit a three-run homer as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Washington Nationals 6-3 on Monday at Fenway Park.

Suarez allowed three earned runs on five hits while striking out eight to improve to 4-3. Contreras’ blast in the first inning gave Boston a 3-0 lead, and the Red Sox added runs in the second and third on sacrifice flies from Wilyer Abreu and Carlos Narváez.

Miles Mikolas (2-7) took the loss, giving up nine hits and six runs over seven innings. The Nationals scored their only runs in the sixth when CJ Abrams doubled in two runs, cutting the deficit to 6-3. Washington managed seven hits total.

Garrett Whitlock earned his first save with a perfect ninth inning, striking out two. Caleb Durbin also homered for Boston, which had nine hits. The Red Sox improved to 37-46, while Washington fell to 43-43. Attendance was 32,000 and the game lasted 2 hours, 22 minutes.