Night after pregame speech, Jazz lets bat do the talking in 9th-inning comeback win

WASHINGTON -- Jazz Chisholm Jr. belted a late two-run shot, highlighting a three-run ninth-inning comeback for the Yankees in a 5-3 thriller over the Nationals on Friday night.

With one out in the ninth, Jasson Domínguez singled on a line drive to left field off Nationals reliever Matt Krook.

Chisholm followed with his 13th homer of the season, erasing a 3-2 deficit, hitting it high into the second deck of right field as a sellout crowd of 38,085 erupted at Nationals Park.

"I was just looking for my pitch and I got it, and I connected well," Chisholm said. "I feel like I've been hitting a lot of balls hard and not getting the results that I needed. It was good to finally get one.

"I thought I missed it, I'm not going to lie. I thought I hit it too high again. I'm just happy that it just kept going."

Chisholm said the clubhouse vibes have been better since he spoke in front of the team at the pregame hitters' meeting Thursday before their 12-4 win over the Rays.

"I felt it from before we even went into the game yesterday," Chisholm said. "We came together and we said we got to do it together.

"I feel like when we are together, we're unstoppable. Every time we go on a crazy run, it's because we are always together and having fun together as a team. I feel like that's a big part of going on the baseball field and knowing your teammates, and having your teammates back, and trusting your teammates."

Yankees manager Aaron Boone believes Chisholm is just hitting his stride, demonstrating his leadership in the clubhouse and on the field with his bat and glove.

"He's such a dynamic player, and I feel like he got off to a tough start in April,” Boone said. “Since then, [he's] been fine. But Jazz shouldn't be [just] fine. He's better than that.

“So, hopefully he's setting himself up for a really good second half, because when he gets it going, he's one of those guys that changes the game in a lot of ways and even can carry teams at certain stretches. Good to see a big swing in a big spot."

Austin Wells added a solo homer two batters later, the fourth homer on the night for the Bombers, who have won three of their last five.

"It was really good," Boone said. “I felt like we had some chances, we just couldn't really break through. I looked up [at] one point I think we had 10 hits and only two runs and then all of a sudden you're behind. So, a little frustrated there and then all of a sudden just some big-time at-bats there to grab the victory. A gritty win by a lot of people in that room.”

Solo shots from Ben Rice and Domínguez staked the Yankees to a 2-1 advantage.

Rice connected with his career-high 29th home run of the season to put the Yankees up 1-0 nine pitches into the game. The All-Star and Home Run Derby participant has hit five homers in five games since July 6 and seven homers in his last 10 games.

Wells and Rice have combined for five homers in the last two games.

Domínguez delivered a go-ahead solo shot in the fourth inning, his fifth homer of the season, that went a Statcast-projected 409 feet to right field.

“He's hitting balls right on the screws right at people,” Boone said pregame. “He did it a couple of times in the Tampa [Bay] series. Hopefully, he's starting to consistently square things up and when he's doing that he can do some special things out there with his speed and his power to all fields."

With the Yankees leading 2-1 and one away in the bottom of the seventh, Keibert Ruiz and James Wood hit back-to-back homers off lefty reliever Tim Hill.

Paul Goldschmidt ended an 0-for-34 drought with a single in the first inning.

The Yankees finished with 13 hits on the night and have 25 in the last two games. Goldschmidt, Domínguez, Cody Bellinger and José Caballero each had two hits.

Even with a no-decision Friday, it was a nice step forward for Ryan Weathers, who held the Nationals to one run on six hits in 5 1/3 innings, striking out six and walking none on 91 pitches (61 strikes).

"Obviously [I] wish I could have finished six [innings],” Weathers said. "[Fernando] Cruz came in and bailed me out there, two big punchouts. They have a really talented lineup. I thought we controlled counts really well. [I] probably threw the least amount of fastballs in my entire career tonight. I think that was going in the game plan just out of respect for them. They're a good fastball-hitting team. I thought we mixed and matched very well."