Red Sox at Nationals lineups: It’s coming home

This is why he is here. Scott Taetsch-USA TODAY Sports The 2021 Boston Red Sox, six months removed from the start of a season with middling expectations, two months removed from a sustained run in first place in the division, and mere days removed from their third or fourth profound funk, can clinch a wild card berth this afternoon again Washington behind Chris Sale (3:05 p.m., NESN).

This, to put it mildly, is what it’s all about. There’s a reason baseball has kept a grasp on the culture as life has gotten faster and faster, and it’s everyone slows down for for the game at the same time, and not just some of us. Today, that’s literally true: Every game starts at 3 p.m. Eastern. In baseball…