​WASHINGTON (AP) — Trent Grisham slugged a two-run homer in the eighth inning to spur the Yankees to another comeback victory over the Washington Nationals’ bullpen, 4-2, on Saturday, marking Aaron Boone’s 750th win as New York’s manager. James Wood opened the scoring with a homer on Cam Schlittler’s very first pitch of the game, and Curtis Mead followed with another long ball two batters later to give Washington a 2-0 lead, a margin that held through eight innings. Orlando Ribalta surrendered a one-out solo homer to Ryan McMahon and then walked Ben Rice.
Clayton Beeter relieved Ribalta and was greeted by Grisham, who blasted a drive to the second-deck in right for a go-ahead 3-2 lead. Paul Goldschmidt then added a solo homer, his first long ball since June 24. Washington, meanwhile, leads the majors with 27 blown saves. The Nationals briefly carried a one-run lead into the ninth in Friday night’s series opener, only to see the Yankees rally for a 5-3 victory.
Brent Headrick earned the win in relief (5-1). David Bednar, who pitched two innings Friday, came on to pitch the ninth for his 18th save in 20 chances and his 16th straight scoreless appearance. The Yankees and Nationals sit tied for the top two spots in baseball in home runs, and 13 of the 14 runs in this series have come via the long ball.
New York has now won three straight for the first time since a four-game streak from June 13-17, after having dropped 11 of 13 prior. Schlittler’s eight straight road starts without allowing more than one earned run ended quickly as Washington needed only three batters to halt that streak. Wood’s 27th homer came early, and Mead followed with a one-out shot. Schlittler settled in after the early flare, working into the seventh, but those early runs nudged his American League-best ERA from 2.01 to 2.05.
Washington’s Miles Mikolas worked four innings after an opener, PJ Poulin, who retired the first five outs. Wood posted his second consecutive three-hit game and, with nine leadoff homers this season, tied the Nationals’ single-season record set by Alfonso Soriano in 2006.
New York faces a potential three-game sweep on Sunday with Will Warren (7-4) set to start, though Washington had not announced a starter.