Washington held the lead entering the ninth inning. It did not last. Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered to right, scoring Jasson Dominguez ahead of him, and Austin Wells added a solo shot moments later as the Yankees scored three times in the final frame to take a 5-3 victory at Nationals Park on Friday night.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYY | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 3 |
| WSH | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
The game turned on a single swing. With the Yankees trailing 3-2, Chisholm Jr.'s two-run homer to right — 374 feet — gave New York the lead it would not relinquish. Wells followed with a solo homer to right center, extending the margin to two. Chisholm Jr. finished 1-for-4 with 2 RBI, while Dominguez went 2-for-4 with a run scored and a home run of his own.
The Yankees had built their early lead on the long ball. Ben Rice opened the scoring in the first with a homer to left center, 387 feet. Dominguez matched it in the fourth, going deep to center 409 feet to restore New York's advantage after Washington had tied the game. Washington answered both times. Wood scored on a double play grounder by Dylan Crews in the third to knot it at 1-1, and in the seventh, Keibert Ruiz homered to left to tie it again at 2-2. James Wood then gave the Nationals the lead with a homer to right center — 419 feet — putting Washington ahead 3-2. It was the kind of back-and-forth that made the ninth-inning reversal all the more jarring.
Washington's bullpen, which covered 6.0 innings and allowed 4 runs, could not protect the lead. Matt Krook took the loss — his first of the season — allowing 2 runs on 2 hits in just one-third of an inning. On the other side, David Bednar worked the final 2.0 innings without allowing a hit, earning the win to improve to 3-3 with a 2.77 ERA. Ryan Weathers started for New York and gave the Yankees length, going 5.1 innings and allowing 1 run on 6 hits with 6 strikeouts.
James Wood led Washington's offense, going 3-for-5 with a homer, a double, and 2 runs scored. He carries 26 home runs and 62 RBI on the season. The Yankees improved to 52-42 with their second consecutive win. Washington fell to 48-47.