From the word go, the Yankees and Nationals embarked on a truly strange game. Jameson Taillon started against Patrick Corbin, and the two locked horns in a decent pitching showdown until the Yankees’ bullpen uncharacteristically imploded for the second game in a row in an 11-4 loss.
On the third pitch he saw to lead off the bottom half of the first inning, DJ LeMahieu did something that he hadn’t done once this year. He took advantage of Yankee Stadium’s obscenely short right-field porch to the same effect that he had over his past two seasons in the Bronx — campaigns that concluded in back-to-back top-four American League MVP finishes.