Rice's Eighth-Inning Triple Flips the Script for New York

Ben Rice's two-run triple in the eighth inning swung Washington's win probability from 73% to 26% — a 46-point collapse in a single swing — and the Yankees walked out of Washington with a 5-3 victory. New York erased a deficit twice and scored in four of the final five innings to take the game.

Washington looked like it had this one locked up entering the eighth. James Wood set the tone immediately, launching a 434-foot home run to center in the first inning to put the Nationals ahead. The Yankees answered in the fifth — Chisholm Jr. singled to right to score Bellinger, then Wells singled to right to score Chisholm Jr., flipping a 0-1 deficit into a 2-1 lead. Washington punched back in the sixth when Curtis Mead went deep to center 409 feet, knotting it at two. Then, in the seventh, a throwing error by second baseman Chisholm Jr. allowed Nuñez to score and Ruiz to reach safely, giving Washington a 3-2 lead heading into the late innings. The Nationals were six outs from a win.

Then came the eighth. With Washington's win probability sitting at 73%, Rice stepped up and tripled to left, scoring Schuemann and Grisham to put New York ahead 4-3. That single play cratered Washington's chances to 26% — a 46-point swing that effectively ended the game. Caballero added an insurance run in the ninth with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Bellinger, and the final read 5-3 Yankees.

The story of the night, beyond Rice's decisive triple, appears to be the Yankees' bullpen doing exactly what Washington's couldn't. After Will Warren gave New York five innings allowing 1 earned run, Paul Blackburn threw two scoreless innings — 0 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts — and Angel Chivilli closed it out with a clean inning of his own. Cade Cavalli was solid for Washington, going 6.0 innings with 4 hits, 2 earned runs, and 5 strikeouts, but the Nationals' bullpen couldn't protect the lead the offense scratched out. Chisholm Jr.'s error in the seventh looks like the moment Washington's window cracked open, and Rice made sure it never closed again.