The New York Yankees will look to build on Thursday’s offensive surge when they end the first half of the season with a three-game series at the Washington Nationals starting Friday night.
New York entered Thursday having lost 14 of its past 18 games and struggling to score. Behind two home runs from Ben Rice, the Yankees routed the Tampa Bay Rays 12-4.
It was the Yankees’ highest offensive output since they scored 12 runs against the Chicago White Sox on June 16, snapping a 20-game streak in which they scored five runs or less.
“You’re fired up that some guys that have been scuffling are putting together really good at-bats,” New York manager Aaron Boone said. “Then you’re always trying to be greedy and say, ‘Let’s keep pushing.'”
The Yankees enter the weekend leading the majors with 135 home runs, and Washington is second with 132.
Left-hander Ryan Weathers (3-7, 4.29 ERA) will start the series opener for New York. Weathers has been charged with the loss in five of his past seven starts. Last time out, he gave up four runs on six hits in four innings of a 6-1 defeat to the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.
Weathers is 2-1 with a 6.20 ERA in four career starts vs. Washington.
For the Nationals on Friday, left-hander Carson Palmquist (0-1, 7.11 ERA) will serve as the opener and right-hander Zack Littell (7-6, 5.02) will throw bulk relief.
The two pitchers teamed on July 4 against the Pirates, and the Nationals lost 7-1. Palmquist gave up four runs in one-plus innings, while Littell came on in the second and was charged with one run over six innings.
Littell, who has given up two earned runs or less in each of his last three appearances, is 3-1 with a 3.99 ERA in five career starts vs. the Yankees.
Rice drove in five runs for New York on Thursday with his 27th and 28th homers of the season. He has gone deep six times in his past nine games.
“The guy hits a million homers,” teammate Ryan McMahon said. “He’s got a super-short, super-tight swing. He’s putting a lot of energy into that baseball. He’s not losing it by getting long, and he’s consistent.”
Austin Wells also homered, and the Yankees collected 14 hits to secure a split of their four-game series with Tampa Bay, which leads New York by four games atop the American League East.
Washington enters Friday’s game after taking two of three from the visiting Houston Astros and has won seven of 11 overall. The Nationals lead the majors in runs (508) and stolen bases (100).
On Wednesday, CJ Abrams and Luis Garcia Jr. each hit his 20th homer of the season. Abrams matched his career high, and Garcia reached the milestone for the first time in his career.
“They put a lot of time, work and effort into getting ready to go for these games and being dialed into the game plan,” Nationals manager Blake Butera said. ” … And when they get the pitches they’re looking for, they’re doing damage.”
With two RBIs, Abrams now has a career high with 67. Fellow National League All-Star James Wood stole his 15th base Wednesday and is the only player in the majors with 25 homers and 15 steals.
The Nationals have 18 homers in July and have drawn 10 walks twice in seven games this month.
“It wins ballgames,” Abrams said. “We get on base, we hit balls hard and we score runs. We’re going to keep that going.”
–Field Level Media
