Not since 1910 — before Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Reggie Jackson and so on — had the New York Yankees swept a series quite like this.
Ben Rice hit a two-run triple in the top of the eighth inning to give the Yankees their third straight come-from-behind victory over the Washington Nationals, 5-3 on Sunday.
New York, which has won four in a row overall for the first time since June 13-17, completed a three-game sweep in which it overcame one deficit in the ninth inning and two in the eighth.
It’s the first time the Yankees swept a series of at least three games while trailing in the eighth inning or later in each of them since May 19-21, 1910, according to Sportradar. Back then it was the New York Highlanders taking three straight from the Cleveland Naps.
The previous time any team accomplished the feat was June 13-15, 2014, when Colorado won three in a row at San Francisco.
“Winning at-bats in different ways in all three games,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “A good job by the pitching staff of holding a really good offense enough in check, and giving us a chance to win each game, and the guys just did some really good things late in games.”
On Friday, the Yankees trailed 3-2 when Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a two-run homer in the ninth. Austin Wells added a solo shot and New York won 5-3.
Washington led 2-0 before New York’s four-run eighth Saturday, which included homers by Ryan McMahon, Trent Grisham and Paul Goldschmidt.
On Sunday, the Yankees didn’t need any home runs. Down 3-2, Rice hit a drive that center fielder Dylan Crews was unable to catch against the wall.
“I didn’t think I got it quite right, but I saw it kept going,” Rice said. “The wind must have just been helping it just enough to make it a tough wall-ball play there.”
After another run in the ninth, the Yankees finished the series outscoring the Nationals 10-0 in the eighth and ninth innings.
The Yankees tied the White Sox with their eighth win when trailing in the eighth inning or later for the most such victories in the American League.
With men on first and second against Andrew Alvarez (2-3) on Sunday, Rice hit a drive on the fourth straight curveball from Alvarez that center fielder Dylan Crews was unable to catch while slamming into the wall.
Both runners scored, making it 4-3 and putting Ryan Yarbrough (2-0) in line for the win. Paul Blackburn returned the final six Washington batters for his first save.
José Caballero hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth to give New York a two-run lead.
The Yankees are 6-34 when trailing after seven innings, with half of the wins coming in this series.
James Wood led off the bottom of the first with a home run, and Curtis Mead also homered for Washington. Wood’s 28th homer of the year was also his 10th leadoff shot, breaking the Nationals’ record he shared with Alfonso Soriano, who hit nine in 2006.
Cody Bellinger led off the fifth with a double for the Yankees and scored on Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s single. After a wild pitch moved Chisholm to second, Austin Wells hit a two-out RBI single to make it 2-1.
Mead came up as a pinch-hitter and homered in the sixth to tie it. Chisholm’s throwing error with two outs in the seventh allowed a run to score, giving the Nationals a 3-2 advantage.
Washington’s Cade Cavalli allowed two runs and four hits in six innings in his first start since serving a five-game suspension for his role in a bench-clearing incident in Boston on June 30.
Abimelec Ortiz hit third in his major league debut for Washington. He went 1 for 2 with a double before Mead hit for him in the sixth.
The Yankees return after the break on Friday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Nationals go on the road to face the Athletics.
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