Ben Rice's 8th-Inning Triple Caps a Sweep in Washington

Yankees 5, Nationals 3, and the box score undersells how much of this one got decided in a single at-bat. Ben Rice ripped a two-run triple past Daylen Lile in left-center in the top of the 8th, and by the time Washington's bullpen door swung open again, the game -- and the series -- were basically over.

It capped a three-game sweep at Nationals Park, the Yankees' fourth straight win, and sent the club into the All-Star break at 54-42.

The Triple That Changed Everything

Washington had the lead and the louder crowd when Rice stepped in against Andrew Alvarez with two on in the 8th. One swing later, Max Schuemann and Trent Grisham were both across the plate, and the Yankees were up 4-3 for good.

The numbers back up what your gut already told you watching it: that at-bat swung Washington's win probability from 75.8% down to 26.4%, a 49.4-point flip that was the single biggest play of the game by a wide margin. Alvarez took the loss. Rice took the headline.

The Rice Is Hot

Ben Rice went 1-for-4 with two RBI, two strikeouts, and no walks -- a quiet counting line, and still the most valuable performance on either roster Sunday. His WPA for the day, +43.9, was the highest of any player in the game, Yankee or National, and it's not close.

That's the whole story of a good triple in a big spot -- it doesn't need volume around it. The Yankees' account had the caption ready before Rice even got back to the dugout: "Caution: The Rice is HOT." (Not exactly Pulitzer material, but earned -- it was Rice's third triple of the season, not the kind of hit most scouting reports circle for him.)

Ties, Leads, and One Ugly Error

Rewind to the 1st inning and this game looked like it might get away from the Yankees early. James Wood turned on a 3-2 pitch from Will Warren and sent it 434 feet to center, 110.0 mph off the bat, and Washington had a 1-0 lead before most of the crowd found their seats.

Warren settled in from there. He went 5 innings, allowing 4 hits and that one run, with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts -- a start that kept the Yanks in the game without ever cracking under pressure. He didn't factor into the decision, but he did his job.

The Yankees answered in the top of the 5th. Jazz Chisholm Jr. lined a single to right off Cade Cavalli to tie the game at 1.

Austin Wells followed with an RBI single of his own -- on his birthday, no less -- to put the Yankees ahead 2-1.

Washington answered right back. Curtis Mead turned on a 2-2 pitch from Tim Hill in the bottom of the 6th and put it 409 feet into center, tying the game at 2. Then in the 7th, Jazz Chisholm's throwing error at second let Keibert Ruiz reach and Nasim Nuñez come around to score (unearned, but it counted the same), and Washington had the lead, 3-2, heading into the 8th.

That's the inning Rice erased.

Locking Down the Pen

Give the bullpen credit for making the lead stand up. After Warren's 5 innings, the Yanks turned it over to Tim Hill, Angel Chivilli, Ryan Yarbrough, and Paul Blackburn, and the four of them didn't let Washington threaten again.

The win technically went to Yarbrough, who got one out and issued a walk in his third of an inning (the kind of decision quirk that makes you shrug and move on). Blackburn was the one who actually finished the job, throwing two clean innings, no hits, no runs, two strikeouts, for his first save of the season. If you needed a reminder the pen can cover extra outs in July, that was it.

Perfect in Washington

The sweep is the headline. Three games at Nationals Park, three Yankees wins -- 5-3, 4-2, and 5-3 -- and a fourth straight win overall heading into the All-Star break. New York sits at 54-42, in second place in the AL East, 3.0 games back of the Rays.

A clean sweep in Washington and four wins in a row is a good problem to carry into a few days off. The Yankees don't come out of the break needing to find themselves. They come out of it already rolling, and that's a much better text to send than an off-day.