Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s go-ahead home run lifts Yankees to 5-3 win over Nationals

The Yankees had a late lead and the bullpen coughed it up, but Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s go-ahead homer in the ninth pushed New York to a 5-3 win over the Nationals on Friday night in Washington, D.C. 

Both the Yankees and Nationals entered Friday as the top two teams in home runs in all of MLB. And after the start of the series opener was delayed by approximately two hours due to a storm, both teams brought the thunder.

Two early Yankees jacks were undone when Tim Hill served up back-to-back homers to Keibert Ruiz and James Wood to give the Nats the lead. But that's when Chisholm came to the rescue, launching a two-run shot off of southpaw Matt Krook to give New York the lead they wouldn't relinquish.

Here are the takeaways....

-Ben Rice got the Yankees scoring started early with his 29th home run of the season to give New York a 1-0 lead in the first. The blast was his seventh in his last 10 games and is now one behind Yordan Alvarez -- who homered Friday as well -- for the AL lead. 

With the game tied in the fourth, Jasson Dominguez went deep to give the Yankees back the lead. 

-On the mound, Ryan Weathers was very effective for much of the game. The southpaw allowed one run through the first five innings, but pitched into trouble in the sixth. After a one-out double by CJ Abrams, Jacob Young singled, but the Nationals shortstop slipped on third and had to retreat when he was destined to tie the game. 

That knocked Weathers out of the game as Fernando Cruz was called on to get out of the jam. Cruz struck out a pinch-hitting Daylen Lile and Jorbit Vivas -- also pinch-hitting -- to strike out swinging to put a bow on Weathers' night.

Weathers allowed one run on six hits while striking out six batters. 

-After the Nationals took the lead, the Yankees had a chance to tie in the eighth. After Trent Grisham's infield single with two outs, he reached second on a wild pitch while Paul Goldschmidt was at the plate. The veteran right-hander struck out to end the threat.

Overall, the Yankees were 0-for-6 with RISP and left eight on base.

-David Bednar allowed just one baserunner (a hit batter), but was otherwise perfect, getting the final six outs. 

-Amed Rosario had a tough time in the field on Friday. Starting at third base, Rosario made two errors, one throwing and one of the fielding variety. While it didn't cost the Yankees any runs, it costWeatherspitches that he could have used to go deeper into this game.

Manager Aaron Boone pinch-hit for Rosario with Ryan McMahon in the fifth. Rosario finished 0-for-2 with two strikeouts.

-Goldschmidt singled in the first, snapping his career-worst 0-for-34 hitless streak. He finished 2-for-5.

Game MVP: Jazz Chisholm Jr.

The go-ahead blast turned around what would have been a tough loss.

Highlights

Ben Rice goes the other way for his 29th home run! pic.twitter.com/FE9oeWpXK6

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 11, 2026

Crushed by Jasson Domínguez! pic.twitter.com/eX6OwNoKSe

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 11, 2026

WE GOT THE JAZZ.

JAZZ CHISHOLM JR. HOMERS IN THE 9TH INNING AND THE YANKEES LEAD! pic.twitter.com/igfBG0JJm3

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 11, 2026

ALL TOO WELLS.

Austin Wells homers again! pic.twitter.com/NR4bXvqmmt

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 11, 2026

What's Next

The Yankees play against Washington again tomorrow, with first pitch on Saturday set for 4:05 p.m.

The expected pitching matchup is Yankees RHP Cam Schlitter (9-5, 2.01 ERA) for New York and RHP Miles Mikolas (3-7, 5.78 ERA) for the Nationals.