Green slips up as Yanks drop suspended game

June 18th, 2018

WASHINGTON -- spun around the mound and stared at the Nationals Park outfield for a few moments in the sixth inning on Monday, processing the fact that Juan Soto had again put the Yankees in a hole.
Soto had just belted his sixth career home run and his third homer against the Yankees over the past five days. Last Wednesday, Soto hit two home runs at Yankee Stadium. The 19-year-old's two-run dinger produced the only runs scored in the Yankees' 5-3 loss to the Nationals on Monday, which resumed in the sixth inning with the score tied at 3 after being suspended due to rain on May 15.

"Just one mistake," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "Soto got us again."
The teams used the same lineups from May 15, but any player who wasn't in the game was permitted to substitute off the bench. That allowed Soto, who was playing in Double-A Harrisburg on May 15, to replace Matt Adams in left field.
Green started the bottom of the sixth inning, his first time beginning a game on the mound since June 11, 2017. , who homered before the game was suspended, singled in the sixth before Soto homered off Green, who entered Monday with a 1.89 ERA.
"I wish [Soto] was climbing the ladder more routinely," Boone said. "He'd be about Double-A now."
On May 15, allowed three runs over five innings, but the Yankees tied the game behind 's two-run home run and sacrifice fly in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively. New York has since optioned Austin to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The Yankees came closest to plating a run in the eighth inning. But grounded out with runners on the corners, and earned the save in the ninth.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Misread by Sanchez: After doubled in the seventh inning, he began to move to third base on Didi Gregorius' line drive. The liner was caught by Soto, though, and the Nationals turned a double play to end the inning by doubling Sanchez off at second.
"It's a bad read," Boone said. "Simple as that."

SOUND SMART
Soto has faced four Yankees pitchers in his career, and the rookie has homered off three of them.