This one had no business being close. The Yankees and Nationals turned Nationals Park into a launching pad for three-plus hours, and by the time it ended New York had won 5-3 on the strength of a ninth-inning eruption that buried a bullpen collapse the Nats will be trying to forget for a while.
It started early with Ben Rice, who has quietly turned into one of the scariest bats in the Yankees lineup. His solo shot got the scoring going and had Barstool's Eric Hubbs ready to call for a Home Run Derby on the spot.
Ben Rice's solo home run got the barrage started early.
Jasson Dominguez followed with his 5th homer of the season, the kind of moment that's starting to feel routine for the young outfielder who's been nicknamed The Martian since his prospect days. The Yankees needed every bit of it, because Washington's lineup had other plans.
Jasson Dominguez's homer tied the game and kept New York's power surge going.
The Nationals answered in the 7th when Keibert Ruiz took reliever Tim Hill deep to tie the game, and James Wood followed on the very next pitch to put Washington up 3-2. It was the kind of back-to-back gut-punch that flips a broadcast's entire mood, and Barstool Baseball caught Ruiz's blast as it happened.
Keibert Ruiz's solo shot off Tim Hill tied the game before Washington took the lead on the very next pitch.
Hill's meltdown sent Hubbs straight to the trust tree, floating a demotion to "don't pitch in the postseason" status, and the vibes only got tenser from there. A 3-2 Nationals lead in the 7th felt like it might hold, especially with New York's offense going quiet through the middle innings.
It didn't hold. Jazz Chisholm Jr., who's had his share of cold stretches this season, unloaded a go-ahead two-run homer in the 9th that turned a potential road loss into a signature win.
Austin Wells piled on right behind him for his 6th homer of the season, and closer David Bednar slammed the door to lock up the 5-3 final. Hubbs summed up the whirlwind perfectly, noting the game was about to be pinned entirely on a stalled offense before Jazz "decided to end the bullshit with a massive bomb," with a pointed shoutout to Washington's bullpen for making it possible.
Four Yankees homers, a Nationals near-comeback built on back-to-back blasts of their own, and a bullpen implosion right when it mattered most — that's a night in the Bronx-Washington series nobody who watched is going to forget quickly, even if the box score just reads 5-3.