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Restarting a game a month after it originally started was always going to lead to some weird situations. The Yankees’ starting pitcher and first baseman from this game are hurt and in AAA, respectively. The announcers on YES talked that game even having a little bit of a feel of a spring training game. It obviously does counts in the standings, but it was a weird little game.
As he was the last time these two teams met, Juan Soto was the star. Playing in a game that started prior to his major league debut, the Nats’ rookie added another home run to his tally, and that was the only real offense that happened in this abbreviated half-game. The proceedings took a little over an hour, and it ended with the Nationals taking it 5-3 over the Yankees.
When the teams took the field for the bottom of the sixth, the Yankees started with Chad Green on the mound. He struck out Bryce Harper to start the inning, but Anthony Rendon followed that with a single. Soto, technically making an appearance off the bench, then hit a massive home run. The Nats had a two-run lead, and Soto, in a way, now has a home run that happened prior to his major league debut.
In the top of the seventh, Gary Sanchez picked up a double. Didi Gregorius look like he was going to score him with a hit in the very next at bat, but Soto made a running catch, and doubled off Sanchez at second. It was a decent chunk Sanchez’s fault for misreading it, but the Yankees have seen enough of Soto this season.
That Gregorius fly ball was the closest the Yankees got to a rally. In the eighth, they put a couple runners on, but they both came with two outs, and nothing came of them. The lineup went down in order in the ninth, and the final couple innings ended barely an hour after they started.
Stay tuned, because there’s another game coming soon. That one probably won’t be over as quickly as this one.