Overview
- The Yankees staged a ninth-inning rally on Friday when Jasson Domínguez singled and Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a two-run go-ahead homer, and Austin Wells added an insurance shot to beat the Nationals 5-3.
- Saturday afternoon the comeback continued when pinch-hitter Ryan McMahon, Trent Grisham and Paul Goldschmidt homered in the eighth inning to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 win and a three-game winning streak.
- Manager Aaron Boone publicly pushed Chisholm for greater consistency after the games, saying Chisholm has been 'fine' but 'shouldn't be fine' and framing the recent hits as a chance to build momentum into the second half.
- Washington's bullpen, which leads MLB in blown saves with 27, again surrendered late runs that opened both games for New York and proved a decisive weakness in the series.
- The rallies fit a larger pattern: the Yankees and Nationals rank first and second in Major League Baseball in home runs, most runs in the series have come via long balls, and the recent wins offer momentum but do not erase New York's earlier 2-11 skid in late June.