When and where to watch

Tonight on Nationals: Coverage on YES & the YES app begins at 6:00 PM with the Pregame Show

Tomorrow on Nationals: Coverage on YES & the YES app begins at 5:30pm with Yankees Batting Practice Today

Wednesday at Nationals: YES & the YES app will have the Postgame Show following the coverage on Prime, which begins at 6:00 p.m.

Friday vs Cardinals: Coverage on YES & the YES app begins at 6pm ET with Yankees Batting Practice today

Saturday vs. Cardinals: Coverage on YES & the YES app begins at 12:00 p.m. with Yankees Batting Practice Today

Sunday vs. Cardinals: Coverage on YES & the YES app begins at 1:00 PM ET with Yankees Batting Practice Today

Striped pulse

The 77-54 Yankees have the best record in the American League and lead Baltimore by 1.5 games for first place in the AL East. Aaron Judge continues to roll, and with 51 homers on the season, he’s currently on pace to hit 63, which would break his own single-season AL record. Nine of Juan Soto’s 12 hits since Aug. 11 have been home runs. Giancarlo Stanton has homered in each of his last three games. Gleyber Torres is on a 20-game on-base streak, tied for the second-longest of his career after a 22-game run in 2019. Carlos Rodón is 5-1 with a 2.67 ERA in his last six starts, and his 14 wins on the season tie him with Seth Lugo and Chris Sale for second in the majors behind Tarik Skubal’s 15. Tommy Kahnle has a season ERA of 1.57, fifth best in MLB among relievers who have pitched at least 34 innings.

How does that work?

Fans in attendance at the ballpark on Sunday saw something the Yankees hadn’t done in nearly four years! When Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton hit back-to-back-to-back homers against Colorado’s Jeff Criswell, they became the first trio to accomplish the feat for the Yankees since Sept. 17 of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, when Brett Gardner, DJ LeMahieu and Luke Voit did so against Toronto.

Know the enemies

Though they’ve been just a game below .500 since Aug. 3, the 59-72 Nationals are looking ahead to the future. Of the players who have been with the club all year, Luis García Jr. has the team’s highest batting average at .293. C.J. Abrams leads Washington with 18 home runs, matching his year-to-date home run total in 30 fewer games. He’s also stolen 27 bases, the second-most among players currently on the team behind Jacob Young’s 30. The second overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft behind Paul Skenes, 22-year-old Dylan Crews makes his major-league debut on Monday, hitting second and playing right field. The 65-65 Cardinals are within five games of a Wild Card playoff spot in the National League, though they’re 10 games behind first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central. Nolan Arenado is hitting .273 with 14 homers and 60 RBI. Alec Burleson leads St. Louis in homers with 21, followed by Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Gorman with 19 each. But while Burleson is hitting .274, Goldschmidt is hitting .226 and Gorman was demoted to the minors last week after hitting .203 in 107 games.

Likely starters

Nestor Cortes has thrown seven scoreless innings in his last two starts, without a hit. He looks to keep it warm tonight in Washington, DC. He will take the mound opposite 24-year-old rookie Mitchell Parker. Gerrit Cole also held the opposition scoreless in his previous two games, throwing six innings each time. Tomorrow he will start against Patrick Corbin. Carlos Rodón and MacKenzie Gore are scheduled for the final game of the series on Wednesday. The pitching matchups for the Yankees and Cardinals have yet to be announced.

Bronx buttons

YES’s first-ever animated series is currently up for two episodes and you can watch it exclusively on the YES app! Join young baseball players Riv, Bash, Oscar and their teammates on a baseball adventure across New York City in HexClad presents Bronx Buds, powered by Bical Auto Mall. The next episode airs at 9:00 p.m. ET this Saturday.

Yanks watch

While YES will have its usual coverage of Yankees baseball on Tuesday night, the YES app will bring you an alternate broadcast featuring Jimmy “Jomboy” O’Brien and Jake Storiale. It’s going to be a “Watchin’ Yanks with Jomboy Media” event – follow the Yanks & Nats along with Jimmy and Jake, plus you can send them questions and interact with them on social media as the game unfolds. The event starts exclusively on the YES app at 6:40 p.m.