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NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 10: Denard Span #2 of the Washington Nationals steals second base in the ninth inning as Stephen Drew #14 of the New York Yankees recieves the throw at Yankee Stadium on June 10, 2015 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Yankees game 59: Overworked bullpen falls in extras

Washington Nationals 5 – New York Yankees 4 (11 innings)

In a day game to wrap-up a quick two-game series, the Yankees could not extend the streak amidst a limited bullpen.

After two scoreless innings from the Nationals’ Gio Gonzalez and the Yankees’ Nathan Eovaldi, the Nations would strike first on the scoreboard. With two outs in the third inning, Danny Espinosa hit a double to left field. Denard Span followed him with a double of his own, scoring Espinosa and putting the Nationals ahead early.

In the fifth inning, Danny Espinosa would strike for extra bases again. Again with two outs, Espinosa hit a long fly ball into the Yankees bullpen for a solo home run.

Through the first five innings, the Yankees were only able to get one hit and it was from the unlikely source of the returning Brendan Ryan. The Yankees got a single from Mark Teixeira in the sixth inning but the offense really emerged in the seventh.

After a leadoff single by Chris Young, Brendan Ryan continued his hitting barrage to start his season by hitting a triple over the head of Span in center field. The Yankees were on the board but they were just getting started. Replacing Gio Gonzalez was Felipe Rivero and he did not find success on the mound. With the infield in, Brett Gardner hit a ground ball down the right field line, just over first base for a game-tying double. After two outs and another pitcher, Aaron Barrett, the Yankees got the lead on a deep fly ball to straightaway center field, over the head of Span again. Things looked to be going the Yankees’ way when Brian McCann hit a single through the middle of the infield and it deflected off second base to score the Yankees’ fourth run of the game.

Eovaldi gave up a leadoff single in the eighth inning before he was removed from a very strong start. In seven innings, Nathan Eovaldi allowed three runs on eight hits, one walk and struck out four.

Replacing Eovaldi was rookie Jacob Lindgren. The lefty had a significant opponent to start his outing as he faced Bryce Harper. In the first matchup in which Harper was the elder of the two, Lindgren got the better of him with a fly out to left field for the first out. From the next batter, Lindgren got a ground ball but slight difficulty in the transfer by Stephen Drew for the second out in the would be double play proved crucial. After not completing the double play, Michael Taylor got an at-bat with one on and he made the most of it. Taylor got a hold of an outside pitch and put it in the short porch for a game-tying two-run home run.

The game remained tied through nine innings so this day game would go on in extra innings.

Chris Capuano pitched in extras and after a scoreless 10th inning, the Nationals broke the tie in the 11th.

Tyler Moore led off the 11th with a single. He advanced to second base on a sacrifice and third on a ground out. With two outs, Denard Span hit a chopper over the head of Capuano and Span beat out a throw by Stephen Drew, allowing the go-ahead run to score.

The Yankees went down in order against closer Drew Storen, including a pair of strikeouts that snapped the seven-game winning streak.

With Lindgren entering in the game in such a high leverage situation, the big question was where were the Betances and Millers of the bullpen. Maybe even a Shreve. It was revealed that Betances and Shreve were unavailable due to their recent workload. More importantly, Miller was unavailable because he is headed to the disabled list.

 

Win – Blake Treinen (2-2)

Loss – Chris Capuano (0-4)

Save – Drew Storen (19)

 

Notables

Nationals

*Denard Span – 3 for 6, 2B, 2 RBI (19)

*Danny Espinosa – 3 for 5, 2 R, 2B, Solo home run (8) in the 5th, RBI (18)

Yankees

*Brendan Ryan – 2 for 3, R, 3B, RBI (1)

*Alex Rodriguez – 1 for 5, R, 2B, RBI (29)

 

Current Yankees Record: 33-26