WASHINGTON — Carlos Rodon was hot and certainly confused.
The Yankees left-hander had plenty to be frustrated about early Wednesday night, from ongoing issues with PitchCom to a 98-degree temperature on his first pitch in the humid conditions.
But what may have upset Rodon most was how the Nationals hit and ran him at will in the Yankees' 5-2 series loss at Nationals Park.
Rodon put the Yankees in a tight spot early, trailing 4-1 after two innings and unable to get out of it, as Nationals left-hander MacKenzie Gore gave up just two runs over six innings for the second night in a row.
The Yankees (78-56) were 1-for-13 with scoring position, giving them a disappointing 1-for-26 record in the three-game series, and their lead in the AL East could be reduced to 0.5 games depending on the Orioles' performance against the Dodgers.
After the Nationals (61-73) fell into a bizarre double play on a deep single to center field in the bottom of the eighth, the Yankees had a chance to come back in the ninth for the second straight night.
After Anthony Volpe singled and Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked as the leadoff hitter in the ninth against Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan, manager Aaron Boone sent in Oswaldo Cabrera to pinch-hitter for DJ LeMahieu, who had hit himself against Finnegan the night before and flown out.
But the end result was the same: Cabrera hit a fly out to center, Alex Verdugo grounded out to Finnegan and Gleyber Torres struck out to put Juan Soto on base and end the game.
