Yankees storm back in ninth to defeat Nationals 5-3
- Davis Cornell
- Jul 10
- 4 min read
After a two-hour rain delay, the Yankees came back late to take down the Nationals 5-3. Ryan Weathers got the starting nod for the Yankees and faced off against the Nationals' opener, Carson Palmquist.
With one out in the top of the first inning, Ben Rice got the scoring started with a solo shot to left-center field, his 29th home run of the year, to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. Paul Goldschmidt then shot a single to right field to break out of a 0-for-34 skid. Cody Bellinger followed with a single of his own, putting runners at the corners with two outs for Jasson Dominguez. But Dominguez struck out swinging, stranding Goldy and Belli.
In the bottom half of the first inning, Weathers navigated around a leadoff single and picked up his first strikeout to work a scoreless frame.
It looked like Weathers induced an inning-ending double play in the bottom of the second, but an error from Amed Rosario put runners on first and second with one out. Weathers picked up a strikeout and a groundout to work out of trouble.
Weathers allowed a double and a single in the bottom of the third inning, putting runners at the corners with nobody out. Dylan Crews bounced into a double play, bringing across a run and tying the ballgame.
With one out in the top of the fourth inning, Belli sent a single up the middle for his second hit of the ballgame. But then he was caught stealing. Then right after that, Jasson Dominguez crushed a home run to right-center field, giving the Yankees a 2-1 lead.
It looked like Weathers induced a routine groundout for the second out of the bottom of the fourth, but Rosario made a bad throw for his second error of the game, allowing a runner to reach third base. Thankfully, José Caballero made a great throw to gun down the tying run at the plate, and Weathers picked up his fourth strikeout to end the inning.
Caballero led off the fifth inning with a base hit to left field, then stole second base. But Austin Wells, Ryan McMahon (who pinch-hit for Rosario), and Rice all struck out, stranding Caballero.
In the top of the sixth inning, Weathers allowed a one-out double and a single, putting runners at the corners and ending his night on the mound. Fernando Cruz took over and picked up a couple of huge strikeouts to keep the Yankees' lead intact.
Final line for Weathers: 5.1 innings pitched, six hits allowed, one earned run, no walks, and six strikeouts on 91 pitches. He threw his sweeper 30% of the time, slider 27%, changeup 23%, sinker 12%, and fastball 8%. Weathers topped out at 96.6 mph, averaged 95.5 mph, and had 11 swings and misses.
“They have a really talented lineup, so I thought we controlled counts really well, probably threw the least amount of fastballs in my entire career tonight,” Weathers said. “And I think that was just going in the game plan and just out of respect for them. I mean, they're a good fastball-hitting team, so I thought we mixed the match really well”
Tim Hill replaced Cruz in the bottom half of the sixth, and he served up a game-tying home run to No. 9 hitter Keibert Ruiz. The next batter, James Wood, demolished a go-ahead bomb to make it back-to-back home runs and give the Nationals a 3-2 lead. Jake Bird replaced Hill and picked up the final two outs of the inning.
Anthony Volpe pinch-hit for McMahon to lead off the eighth inning and was able to draw a walk. But Rice grounded into a 3-6-3 double play. Trent Grisham legged out an infield single, then former Yankee Clayton Beeter struck out Goldy to strand Grisham.
The Yankees' closer, David Bednar, got the call for the bottom of the eighth inning and worked around a throwing error from Wells, the Yankees' third error of the game and worked a scoreless inning.
Dominguez lined a one-out single to left-center in the top of the ninth inning, giving him a multi-hit game for a third straight game. The next batter, Jazz Chisholm Jr., launched a no-doubt go-ahead two-run shot into the second deck in right field on a hanging sweeper, some left on left crime to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead. A few batters later, Wells crushed his second home run in as many days to give the Yankees a big insurance run.
“I mean, you know, facing lefties, they love to throw sweepers,” Jazz said. “I feel like that was the best pitch for me to swing at against him. So I was just waiting and waiting on my pitch and I got it.”
Bednar remained in the game for the bottom of the ninth and worked a 1-2-3 inning to give the Yankees a come-from-behind victory.
“We're known for never giving up,” Jazz said. “You know what I mean, so that's basically what we put our mind into every at-bat, compete from start to finish, no matter the score. We're going to play until the end until we win it.”
The Yankees will look to win the series tomorrow with Cam Schlittler on the mound facing off against Miles Mikolas. The first pitch is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET on the YES Network.
My thoughts on the game: Huge win tonight, one of my favorite wins of the season. Solid start from Weathers, setting the Yankees bullpen up nicely. Cruz picked up two huge strikeouts; I would have liked to see Boone keep him in for the seventh inning. Hill had a bad outing, giving up back-to-back homers. Bird came in to stop the bleeding and record the final two outs after Hill had only recorded one out. And Bednar continued his ho streak on the mound, picking up six huge outs. Rice stayed hot with his fourth home run of the week to get the scoring started. Dominguez had another multi-hit game and crushed a homer. Wells hit another bomb; hopefully he can start to heat up. And Jazz crushed the huge go-ahead shot to give the Yankees the lead. Just a great night all around for the offense with 13 hits and five runs. On to tomorrow as the Yankees will look to win the series.
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