Yankees Snatch Late Win Against Nationals
WASHINGTON — What Ben Rice did in the eighth inning on Sunday probably won’t contribute much to his performance in Monday night’s home run derby. Still, it certainly helped the Yankees on Sunday.
Rice hit a crucial two-out triple that bounced off the left-center field wall, bringing in two runs and shifting late-game momentum to give the Yankees a 5-3 victory over the Nationals. This win secured a clean sweep for the Yankees, who won all three games in Nationals Park.
With this victory, the Yankees (54-42) are riding a four-game winning streak as they head into the All-Star break. It feels like a fresh start, especially after their tough 5-15 stretch from the previous year. By the end of Sunday’s game, they found themselves just three games back of the Rays in the AL East.
The Nationals’ struggling bullpen certainly played a part in this outcome, as they dropped all three games after leading at critical points in the ninth inning on Friday, and in the eighth inning on Saturday and Sunday.
This comeback was ignited when Max Schumann hit a two-out single against left-hander Andrew Alvarez. After a walk issued to Trent Grisham, Rice stepped up. Though he battled through a tough at-bat, he delivered with a deep fly that nearly became his 30th home run. Instead, it resulted in a game-changing two-run triple, giving the Yankees a 4-3 advantage.
In the ninth inning, Jose Caballero added an insurance run with a sacrifice fly, providing relief for Paul Blackburn, who stepped in for a six-out save with David Bednar and Fernando Cruz absent.
Initially, the Yankees were in control, leading 2-1 after five innings. However, the Nationals (48-49) managed to tie it in the sixth with a home run from Curtis Mead, which was a pinch-hit effort off Tim Hill. They then pulled ahead in the seventh when Angel Chivili, with a runner on second and two outs, mishandled a grounder allowing a runner to score. This mishap gave the Nationals a brief 3-2 lead.
Throughout much of the game, Yankees’ right-hander Cade Cavalli held them back effectively, giving up only two runs (from Chisholm and Austin Wells) in seven innings.
Will Warren managed to navigate some tough situations and relied on three double plays in the fifth inning, limiting the damage to just one run while allowing four hits and two walks.
In a repeat of the previous game, emerging talent James Wood kicked off the scoring for the Nationals with a home run in the first inning, which gave them an early 1-0 advantage. This came on a 3-2 pitch, with Warren having to pay for a 95 mph fastball thrown too centrally.
Yet, Warren, much like Ryan Weathers and Cam Schritler in the earlier games, managed to contain the highest-scoring offense in the majors. He executed double plays in the first and third innings and faced a potentially dangerous situation with runners on the corners in the fourth. But he struck out Dylan Cruz and got Daylen Lyle to line out to Rice at first base, effectively dismissing the double-play threat.
