NEW YORK -- Yes, the Nationals lost to the Yankees, 10-5, on Monday night at Yankee Stadium. However, one thing the Bronx Bombers learned is that Washington doesn’t give up so easily.
Entering the ninth, it looked like New York was going to win a laugher. It was 10-0, but that top half of the inning lasted longer than expected. Washington scored five runs -- all with two outs -- and it didn’t surprise Nationals manager Miguel Cairo.
“That’s what we have been doing until the last out. They are still getting good at-bats,” Cairo said. “They want to be in the big leagues. To be in the big leagues, you have to do everything the right way. They keep playing.”
The Nationals were down to their final out against right-hander Yerry De los Santos when Riley Adams and Paul DeJong singled to put runners on first and second. After Dylan Crews drew a walk to load the bases, Adams scored Washington's first run on a bases-loaded walk by Robert Hassel III.
After De los Santos left the game in favor of Mark Leiter Jr., Jacob Young came to the plate and swung at a 1-0 pitch. His first career grand slam, and first homer of the season, landed in the Yankees’ bullpen to make it a five-run game. Despite the loss, Young was glad to reach a milestone at prestigious Yankee Stadium.
“It’s a milestone you always dream about, and doing it in a park like this one is a cool thing to do,” Young said. “No matter what inning it comes in, they all count. Just trying to get a good pitch. … He gets it up and … I put a pretty good swing on it.”
Young hoped the grand slam would increase the momentum during that ninth inning, but James Wood struck out to end the game.
Earlier in the game, Washington’s offense couldn’t do anything against right-hander Cam Schlittler, who allowed just four hits over six scoreless innings.
“He has a lot of life in that heater,” Young said. “I thought he was able to locate the ball away from us real well. He kept us off balance. We were never able to get anything started.”
Washington was aiming to get early momentum to start the game. After Brad Lord rejoined the rotation on July 22, the right-hander became one of the Nationals' best starters. Lord entered Monday with a 2-1 record and a 3.45 ERA in six starts (31 1/3 IP) since, with 21 strikeouts and eight walks.
During that span, right-handed hitters had a slash line of .242/.266/.290 with a .556 OPS. Unfortunately, Yankees manager Aaron Boone loaded his lineup with left-handed hitters, and Lord was hit hard.
He was behind the 8-ball almost from the beginning. With one out in the first, Ben Rice and Aaron Judge drew walks and later advanced a base on a passed ball by Adams. Rice later scored on a sacrifice fly from Cody Bellinger.
Lord allowed just one run over the next three frames, but the fifth inning got out of hand. He allowed five hits -- one of them a two-run homer from Jazz Chisholm Jr. -- and retired just one batter before he was replaced by Jackson Rutledge.
Lord blamed himself for the bad finish.
“[The Yankees] have some dangerous hitters. I made a few mistakes tonight, and they made me pay for it,” Lord said. “Good hitters like that, they don’t miss too many mistake pitches. … In the fifth inning, I left a few too many pitches in the heart of the plate. They were able to make good contact and made me pay for it.”