Dylan Crews got his first two career hits, and Andrés Chaparro and José Tena hit consecutive home runs on a standout night for Washington’s rookies as the Nationals defeated Gerrit Cole and the New York Yankees 4-2 on Tuesday.
Aaron Judge doubled in the first inning but stayed at 51 homers for the American League-leading Yankees.
Judge had a chance to drive in runs with the bases loaded and no outs in the eighth inning against reliever Jacob Barnes but hit into a double play on a 3-1 pitch, which scored New York’s first run.
After hitting two home runs on Sunday against Colorado, Judge is 2 for 7 with two walks in the two games at Washington.
Patrick Corbin (4-12) outpitched Cole by using excellent control to keep the Yankees’ strong lineup in check. The veteran left-hander gave up two hits and struck out six in six innings, marking his second and longest scoreless outing of the season.
“He really worked that cutter, I think, to both sides of the plate well. Worked it down and in, in off the plate a little bit,” Judge said. “He was able to get ahead in the count and put pressure on us as hitters.”
After Corbin walked Judge with two outs in the sixth inning on his 100th pitch, manager Dave Martinez walked to the mound, and the Nationals’ bullpen cart came out from beyond the center-field fence to bring in a reliever.
However, Corbin remained in the game and got Giancarlo Stanton out with a popup.
“He was like, ‘Yeah, this is your game to finish,’” Corbin said. “I was feeling good, wanted to finish my inning there. That was a cool feeling.”
Kyle Finnegan gave up an RBI grounder to Anthony Volpe in the ninth inning and then allowed back-to-back singles before retiring the next two batters for his 33rd save in 37 chances.
