About Last Night: On a Roll? Yankees 5, Nationals 3

About Last Night: On a Roll? Yankees 5 - Nationals 3

By Tim Kabel

July 11, 2026

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The Yankees beat the Nationals last night to win two games in a row for the first time since June 23rd and 24th against the Tigers. So, keep that in mind before you start tossing confetti. Let’s not get carried away like Horton, the elephant in Seussical the Musical- “I have wings and I can fly around the moon and far beyond the sky.” No, you can’t, you’re an elephant.

The Yankees and the Nationals rank first and second in the Major Leagues in home runs and all but one of the runs in last night’s game came via the home run.

Ben Rice hit his 29th home run of the season, which temporarily tied him for the league lead with Yordan Alvarez. Alvarez later hit his 30th. Jasson Dominguez, Jazz Chisholm, Jr., and Austin Wells added home runs of their own. It was the second game in a row in which Wells hit a home run. Ricky Ricardo, who was calling the game on the radio along with Emmanuel Berbari, in place of Dave Sims and Suzyn Waldman, seemed to think that Wells is turning the corner. I think Ricky has some splainin to do. As an aside, I find Ricky Ricardo to be a very pleasant listen on the radio and Emmanuel Berbari paired very nicely with him. The way Ricky calls the game reminds me a lot of the late John Sterling. With the inclusion of Spanish expressions and pronunciations, I guess as my friend Brian would say, you could call Ricky “Juan Sterling."

Every starter in the Yankees lineup had at least one hit last night, with the exception of Amed Rosario, who was 0-2 with two strikeouts and made two errors before being replaced by Ryan McMahon. I guess you could say the bloom is off the Rosario. That’s baseball, Suzyn.

Ryan Weathers pitched reasonably well, allowing 1 run on 6 hits in 5.1 innings. As usual, he struck out 6. He didn't walk anyone. He left the game leading 2-1. In the 7th inning, Tim Hill replaced Fernando Cruz and after getting one out, he allowed back-to-back home runs to Keibert Ruiz and James Wood. Wasn’t he in Casino?

The Nationals used former Yankee, Clayton Beeter to close out the 8th inning but for some inexplicable reason, they brought in another former Yankee, Matt Krook, to pitch the 9th and get the save. Apparently, Krook never saw that memo. Krook who had allowed 22 earned runs in 12.2 Major League innings dating to 2023 yielded a one-out single to Jasson Dominguez and a two-run homer to Jazz Chisholm.

David Bednar pitched two hitless innings to earn the win. Other than Hill's disastrous outing, the rest of the bullpen, Fernando Cruz, Jake Bird, and Bednar didn't allow a hit or a run. Surprisingly, Brent Headrick did not get into the game. Perhaps we should have someone do a wellness check on him, since he appears in every game.

The Yankees were able to take advantage of the weak pitching of the Nationals last night. That is what they need to do. They should do the same thing in the next two games. We will see if they can. The Nationals can certainly hit well but if they are relying on Matt Krook and other Major League vagabonds, they will not go very far. If the Yankees hope to go far, they need to beat up on opponents like the Nationals.

A Few Tidbits: 

·       Paul Goldschmidt singled in the first inning to snap an 0-34 slump and he also reached on an infield hit in the 6th inning.

·       Ricky Ricardo and Emmanuel Berbari were quite surprised that Theodore Roosevelt won the presidential mascot running race in the middle of the 4th inning against George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln. Apparently, Ricky and Emmanuel need a history lesson, as TR was perhaps our most athletic president. He boxed, ran, swam, hiked, and regularly rowed a boat back and forth across Long Island Sound to visit his fiancée. Besides, he drank a gallon of coffee a day. If that doesn't help you win a race against a man with wooden teeth, someone who invented a swivel chair, and the Great Emancipator, nothing will.

·       Ben Rice hit 7 home runs in his last 10 games. 

·       Continuing the presidential theme, if Richard Nixon were alive to see last night's game, he would have said, “I'm glad I'm not a Krook.”

·       On July 10th, 1941, Joe DiMaggio had a hit on a rainy night in Saint Louis to extend his hitting streak to 49 games.

·       On July 10th, 1966, the Yankees lost a doubleheader to Washington on the road, dropping the team into 9th place at the All-Star break.  That was a Pre-Boone-Swoon.

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Today, the Yankees will play the second game of the three-game series against the Nationals at 4:05 PM at Nationals Park. Cam Schlittler, (9-5, 2.01 ERA) will face Miles Mikolas, (3-7, 5.78 ERA).  Hopefully, the Yankees won’t have to go the extra miles to beat Mikolas.