It must have felt like a blast from the past for Giancarlo Stanton. The longtime Miami Marlin tormented the Nationals for years as a division rival, but his years with the Yankees have seen him face DC just 16 times. Game 17 tonight was a vintage Giancarlo vs. Washington performance: two hulking extra-base hits combining for five RBI. With the big night, he continued his hottest stretch in pinstripes and accounted for all the Bombers’ scoring in a series-clinching 5-1 victory in the Bronx.
The Nats actually got on the board first in this one thanks to a mental lapse from one of the Yankees’ best defenders. Robert Hassell III led off the third with a leadoff double to the wall against Luis Gil, then tried to score from second on a hard-hit single to left by CJ Abrams. It was an ill-advised move from the rookie outfielder, but Cody Bellinger was so sure that Hassell wouldn’t head home that he threw towards third without a ton of urgency. Amed Rosario tried to save it on the relay, but Hassell easily crossed the plate to put the visitors on top 1-0. It was a bad play from Bellinger, but he would redeem himself.
2025 All-Star MacKenzie Gore got off to a strong start for the Nats, but faltered as soon as he got the lead. The Yankees worked a furious two-out rally in the home third, beginning with a double from lefty-masher Paul Goldschmidt. Gore proceeded to lose his command, walking the next two batters just in time to bring up the last man he wanted to face. Giancarlo Stanton got ahead of Gore then worked the count full. On the payoff pitch, the southpaw tried a curveball, but it floated right over the plate—Stanton pummeled it to left center, missing a grand slam by a few feet. All three runners scored on the double.
As he reminded Bryce Harper on Twitter once upon a time, his last name backwards is “NotNats.”
Gil continued to be his usual effectively-wild self. He didn’t record a single 1-2-3 inning, pitching around four walks while punching out five. Facing the third time through the order to begin the fifth, he allowed a hard-hit double to young star James Wood. Gil rallied to get to two outs before facing veteran Josh Bell. The switch-hitter stroked an opposite field single to left field, and once again Washington got overaggressive on the bases. This time, Bellinger was more than ready to fire plateward, and his throw on one hop made it to Austin Wells in plenty of time to cut down Wood and end the inning.
Unsurprisingly given the walks, it was another was five-and-dive night for Gil. But he once again avoided major damage. Taking his place was Fernando Cruz, making his first appearance off the IL. He told Meredith Marakovits pregame that he was likely going to have a lot of adrenaline in his first assignment since June 27th, and that was borne out by the way the sixth inning began. Cruz allowed a single then hit a man before a perfect bunt single by Hassell loaded the bases with one man out. After striking out ninth-place hitter Jacob Young, Aaron Boone came to the mound to make another switch. Cruz made a very strange face before returning to the dugout. I guess that’s the adrenaline he was talking about!
With Wood due up, Boone tapped Tim Hill, who got him to roll over to third. Rosario made a nice adjustment to throw to first after initially trying for the force. Washington had stranded nine runners in the first six innings.
In the home half, Stanton continued his career-long domination of the Nationals. Facing rookie reliever Orlando Ribalta with a man on, Big G connected for a monstrous 451-foot home run into the bleachers in left-center field.
Stanton’s 17th bomb of the season and the 38th in his career against Washington (446th overall) gave the Bombers some breathing room with a 5-1 lead.
The Bombers actually left the bases loaded in back-to-back innings, including against former Yankee prospect Clayton Beeter in the seventh. Stanton had departed the game by that point, as José Caballero entered to shore up the outfield defensively. He hit the bench with a 1.051 OPS on the season. Over his past 20 games, he’s hit .393 with a .982 slugging percentage—not OPS!—with 10 home runs and 25 RBI. Big G is hotter than the sun right now.
The Yankee bullpen blanked Washington the rest of the way. Hill completed the seventh courtesy of a sparkling double play, then Camilo Doval retired the side in order in the eighth — a nice change of pace from his mostly uneven outings since coming over from the Giants at the Trade Deadline. David Bednar closed shop in a non-save situation and the Bombers rolled to a 5-1 victory.
The Yankees will hunt a sweep at home tomorrow afternoon. Max Fried, fresh off his best performance of the second half, looks to establish some positive momentum. He’ll be opposed by flamethrower Cade Cavalli. First pitch is set for 1:05pm ET on YES.