Aaron Judge and the Yankees offense came alive as the team broke a nine-game losing streak to beat the Nationals, 9-1, on Wednesday night.
Takeaways
– With the team staring down a losing streak not seen in over 100 years, the captain took things into his own hands. Judge blasted a solo shot in the first inning to give the Yanks a 1-0 lead, their first lead in 61 innings dating back to last Monday in Atlanta. It was the third longest such streak in Yankees history.
As an encore, Judge launched a grand slam in the second inning to give the Yankees a 6-0 lead. That was Judge’s fifth career grand slam. He would add a third home run in the seventh, the first time in his career he’s hit three home runs in a game. The last Yankee to hit three home runs was Anthony Rizzo in April 2022. This season, Judge has 27 home runs in just 72 games played.
– On the other side of the ball, Luis Severino has arguably his best start of the season. He worked a shutout first — his first inning of work without giving up a run since July 23 — and wouldn’t give up his first hit until one out into the fourth.
Severino would make into the seventh inning for just the second time this season (May 27 against the Padres) before he gave up a two-out walk. Aaron Boone pulled his starter who left to a standing ovation by the Yankee Stadium crowd.
Severino’s final line: 6.2 innings (97 pitches), one hit, two walks and two strikeouts. He also lowered his ERA from 7.98 to 7.26.
-Wednesday was the second day with Oswald Peraza and Everson Pereira in the lineup. The outfielder went 0-for-4 with a run but did pick up his first career RBI in the second inning on a fielder’s choice that scored Harrison Bader.
Peraza had a similar day to Pereira, going 0-for-3 with a walk and a run. He also made a couple of great plays at third base.
–DJ LeMahieu hit his own homer in the seventh to give the Yanks a 7-0 lead barely over the right-field wall. Nationals right fielder Stone Garrett went for the catch but just missed the ball. However, in the process, he seemingly twisted his ankle and he had to be carted off the field.
The combination of Ian Hamilton (1.1 IP) and Wandy Peralta (1 IP) — who hadn’t pitched since Aug. 15 and gave up a solo shot to Dom Smith with two outs in the ninth — finished off the rest of the game and sealed the Yankees win.
Highlights
What’s Next
The Yankees finish their three-game series with the Nationals at The Stadium on Thursday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m..
The Yankees have yet to announce a starter while the Nationals will have Patrick Corbin (8-11, 4.71 ERA) on the bump.
