Yankees nab clutch walk-off win against Nats, sweep series to cap homestand
NEW YORK — nationThe Yankees, for the second game in a row, walked it off against the Nationals.
In the ninth inning with two men on and one out, Giancarlo Stanton didn’t make the biggest hit, but it was the one that rang loudest as the Yankees came out on top of the Nats 3-2. It was the second consecutive time the Bombers took a game down to the wire and made the simplest of hits for a win.
“Good way to end a successful homestand,” Aaron Boone said after the game.
Stanton that inning came up with Tyler Wade and DJ LeMahieu on the corners and, on a 2-2 pitch, whacked a single to left field. Before Nats left fielder Kyle Schwarber could finish making a play on it, Wade was charging down the third base line to score and the Yankees extended their season record to 18-16.
“It was big time. I love those moments,” Stanton said after the game. “These are great games to feed off of. After a long day yesterday and coming down to the wire today, just any way you can squeeze in a win and take that down to Tampa.”
At this point in the game, rain had marred what was once a sunny and warm Mother’s Day afternoon. Domingo German walked onto that sunny field of Yankee Stadium with no fear earlier in the day.
He turned the page a few games back on what started out as a crummy return — after an 81 game domestic violence suspension — to the big league rotation. And Sunday, he continued to remind doubters of his pitching dominance.
German got the Yankees 6.1 innings, giving up two earned runs on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts on 80 pitches, improving his season ERA to 4.02 in the series finale against the Nats.
The biggest topic of discussion around media types before he came into Sunday’s start was how he would fare particularly against the Nationals’ young rising star, Juan Soto. In three at-bats, German was able to induce two groundouts (one for a double play) and a flyout.
But it was the longball that stained what otherwise would have been a shutout outing.
The Yankees got Michael King going in the bullpen ready to take over for German possibly after the seventh inning. German started the inning giving up a double to Josh Bell, then inducing a pop-out to Starlin Castro. He almost got by his third batter of the inning, Kyle Schwarber, but on a 1-2 count, gave up a homer to the Nats left fielder, which tied the game.
Mike King, then Wandy Peralta came in for a combined 1.2 innings of relief and kept the game at 2-2 for Aroldis Chapman, who made sure he wouldn’t be the reason for a loss. He was actually credited with the win.
The Yankees offense, though still struggling to put up those marquee big numbers, found ways to get runners across the plate. Aaron Hicks, with two on and one out in the third managed to slap a line drive into center field to score Brett Gardner, who reached base on balls to start the frame.
Then it was Gleyber Torres who came in and continued his streak of making the Yankees’ most highlight-worth plays. Torres came into this season with many still doubting whether he was worth it. It hasn’t been easy for the shortstop, but on Sunday, he mashed his first home run of the season into center left field off Nationals starter Joe Ross to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead in the sixth.
“When we have everyone clicking, we have the chance to do something special,” the Yankees manager said after.
The shot ended a 148 at-bat homer-less streak dating back to Sept. 17, 2020, when he homered in his third at-bat against the Blue Jays.
Torres the night before came in clutch with the walk-off hit in the 11th inning, his fourth-career walk-off hit. He wasn’t the hero of Sunday, but these Yankees know how to share the wealth.
