The New York Yankees trailed after seven innings for the third time in three days against Washington and won anyway, beating the Nationals 5-3 on Sunday to complete the sweep and stretch their winning streak to four. They enter the All-Star break at 54-42, three games behind Tampa Bay in the American League East.
The swing came in the eighth. With two on and the Yankees down 3-2, Ben Rice drove a two-run triple to center off Andrew Alvarez, both runners scoring to flip the game. Ryan Yarbrough got the win in relief and Paul Blackburn closed out the final two innings for the save. Will Warren had kept the Yankees in it, allowing one earned run over five innings.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. had two hits and drove in a run, and José Caballero and Austin Wells each added an RBI. Washington got solo homers from Curtis Mead and James Wood, and led into the eighth of the series finale before the bullpen gave it back.
A comeback sweep is the kind of thing that gets oversold, so the standard should stay high: the Yankees needed three late rallies to take three games from a last-place team, which is as much an indictment of the first seven innings as a credit to the last two. But the record note is real. The Washington Post pointed out that not since 1910 had the Yankees swept a series in which they trailed after seven innings in every game, and Sunday was their eighth win this season when behind in the eighth inning or later, tied with the White Sox for the most in the AL. A lineup that keeps finding the last at-bat is a useful thing to own in July.
Rice is the fantasy takeaway. He is hitting for enough contact and driving in runs from the middle of the order to be a weekly starter in most formats, and the eighth-inning usage in high-leverage spots reflects a hitter the Yankees trust. Chisholm, back to stealing bases and turning over the lineup, remains a strong across-the-board contributor heading into the second half.
