The New York Yankees open a three-game weekend series against the Washington Nationals on Friday at 10 p.m. ET, a late start that comes with New York still chasing ground in the AL East. The game is the first meeting of the series and will be shown in market on YES Network and Nationals.TV, with MLB.TV carrying it out of market nationwide.
For fans searching for Yankees Vs Nationals now, the timing matters because New York arrives at 51-42 after beating the Tampa Bay Rays 12-4 on Thursday, while Washington is 48-46. Ben Rice set the tone in that win with two homers and five RBI, Austin Wells also went deep, and Trent Grisham drove in the first run with an RBI single that gave New York a 2-1 lead.
That Thursday result also told a bigger story about where the Yankees stand. They won for just the third time in 14 games, had their most runs and hits since a 12-2 win over the White Sox on June 16, and improved to 15-19 without Aaron Judge, who remains sidelined by an injured right rib that will be reimaged next week. Even after the 12-4 victory and an earlier split with the Rays, New York still sits four games behind Tampa Bay in the AL East.
The Yankees did not simply win; they overwhelmed the Rays in a six-run third inning, chasing Drew Rasmussen with five straight hits after Junior Caminero had homered for Tampa Bay. That burst is the kind of innings New York has needed, but the standings have not budged enough to make the margin feel smaller. Friday night begins another chance to change that, with two more games left in the weekend series and the pressure now on the Yankees to turn one loud victory into something that lasts beyond one night.
