Washington @ New York preview
Yankee Stadium
Last Meeting ( May 8, 2021 ) Washington 3, NY Yankees 4
The New York Yankees waited out a lengthy rain delay and then survived an overpowering performance by Max Scherzer.
The Yankees hope they do significantly less waiting around for their offense Sunday afternoon in the finale of a three-game series with the Washington Nationals at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees are going for their 13th win in 19 games since April 20 after evening the series with Saturday's 4-3 11-inning win that ended more than six hours after the originally scheduled first pitch of 1:05 p.m. and was delayed by two hours, 25 minutes due to rain.
Gleyber Torres hit a game-tying single in the ninth off Brad Hand and won it in the 11th with a bases-loaded infield dribbler down the third base line off Tanner Rainey. Torres produced two clutch hits after striking out three times against Scherzer's fastball.
"Take a win any way we can get it," New York right-hander Corey Kluber said after allowing two runs in 5 2/3 innings. "Every win counts the same, whether it's a 10-0 game or you can come back and kind of fight and claw and get one like we did today."
Torres' soft single kept the Yankees from falling back under .500. It also capped a game that saw Scherzer get a season-high 14 strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings -- the most by a visitor to New York since Pedro Martinez's 17-strikeout game on Sept. 10, 1999.
"We were able to scratch and claw with a couple of really clutch at-bats," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "Runs were tough to come by today with Scherzer on the other side. He was a load; he was heavy today, but we were able to hang around and find a way to win a ballgame, which is really nice."
The Nationals did not do much offensively in Scherzer's most dominant start and lost for the first time in 11 games this year when leading through eight innings.
After hitting four homers in Friday's 11-4 victory, Washington scored on a bases-loaded walk by Juan Soto, a single by Starlin Castro and a sacrifice fly by Trea Turner. Washington struck out 14 times and went 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position in its fourth loss in five games.
"It was a tough one," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. "We caught some bad breaks there. But that's the beauty of the game. It really is. Sometimes you win games like that. Sometimes you fight, you fight back, and things just don't happen your way."
New York's Domingo German (2-2, 4.32 ERA) will start on regular rest Sunday after allowing three runs and four hits in five innings while getting a no-decision in Tuesday's 7-3 win over the Houston Astros. German saw his 12-inning scoreless streak halted and also allowed multiple homers for the third time this season.
German, who is facing Washington for the first time, is 3-1 with a 4.36 ERA in seven career interleague appearances, including six starts.
Joe Ross (2-2, 4.39) starts for Washington and hopes Sunday goes as well as his last start in New York.
On April 24 in a 7-1 win over the Mets, he allowed one run and five hits in six innings, doing so five days after allowing 10 runs and eight hits over 4 1/3 innings in a 12-5 loss at St. Louis. Ross followed his win against the Mets by allowing two runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings in a 6-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday.
Ross is opposing the Yankees for the first time. In interleague games, he is 3-2 with a 4.79 ERA in seven appearances, including six starts.
--Field Level Media