Dylan Crews started the game for the Nationals with his first career home run and later added an RBI double, leading Washington to a 5-2 win over the New York Yankees on Wednesday night, taking two of three games from the AL’s top team.
Crews, who is the third-ranked prospect in baseball and made his debut on Monday, launched a high drive to the bullpen in left-center on Carlos Rodón’s second pitch. In the fourth inning, Crews hit a 105.8 mph line drive for a double, putting Washington ahead 5-1 as his parents celebrated in the stands.
“It was awesome. It was a great moment,” Crews said about the home run. “Luckily it went in the bullpen, so I got that one pretty good. I’m going to remember this one for a while.”
The Nationals managed to keep Aaron Judge from hitting a home run for a third straight night. Judge had hit two home runs on Sunday to reach 51, putting him on track to challenge his own American League record of 62.
Judge had not gone three games without a home run in over two weeks. He had a soft RBI single and walked twice.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit his career-high 22nd home run and ninth for the Yankees, sending a 97 mph fastball from MacKenzie Gore over the center field wall in the second inning.
Juan Soto, who was part of Washington’s 2019 World Series win, went 0 for 12 in the series for New York, which leads the AL East by one game over Baltimore.
Gore (8-11) pitched six strong innings, giving up two runs and six hits. Jose A. Ferrer and Jacob Barnes each pitched a scoreless inning, and Kyle Finnegan secured his 34th save in 38 chances by getting out of trouble in the ninth inning.
“We’ve added a bunch of sparkplugs into the lineup and it shows on the field,” Finnegan said. “Those new pieces are exciting and just give us momentum. This was one of our better crowds, better series of the year. So it was exciting to play in what feels like a playoff atmosphere.”
A Nationals lineup with six rookies frustrated Rodón (14-9) on a 98-degree night.
After Crews’ homer, Rodón allowed the next two batters to reach base and then complained about an issue with the PitchCom system. He did not step off the rubber and was called for a balk, which allowed James Wood to score from third.
Rodón walked toward plate umpire Tony Randazzo in protest before manager Aaron Boone came out and intervened.
“I should have stepped off first and addressed the PitchCom issue, and I gave up a stupid run there,” Rodón said. “That was pretty upsetting.”
Rodón, whose gray jersey was soaked with sweat, showed little interest in keeping runners close, making slow pickoff throws but otherwise allowing the Nationals — who lead the majors in stolen bases — to steal at will.
Washington stole four bases in the second inning alone and scored two runs on RBI singles by Nasim Nuñez and Wood, who had two hits and three of Washington’s five steals. Boone said the faulty PitchCom system played a part.
“I think it affected a little bit in the running game, because we worked a lot of things through that,” Boone said. “We’ve got to be able to adjust there.”
The Nationals’ baserunning went awry in the eighth inning when José Tena hit a line drive over Judge’s head in center for a single. Joey Gallo, after rounding third, stopped while Juan Yepez was close behind. Gallo was tagged out in a rundown, and Yepez retreated to second. Tena was caught between first and second, leading to an 8-6-2-3-2-5-4 double play.
