WASHINGTON (AP) — Ben Rice hit a two-run triple in the top of the eighth inning to give the New York Yankees their third straight come-from-behind victory over the Washington Nationals, 5-3 on Sunday.
New York, which has won four in a row overall for the first time since June 13-17, completed a three-game sweep in which it overcame one deficit in the ninth inning and two in the eighth.
The Yankees tied the White Sox with their eighth win when trailing in the eighth inning or later for the most such victories in the American League.
With men on first and second against Andrew Alvarez (2-3), Rice hit a drive on the fourth straight curveball from Alvarez that center fielder Dylan Crews was unable to catch while slamming into the wall.
Both runners scored, making it 4-3 and putting Ryan Yarbrough (2-0) in line for the win. Paul Blackburn returned the final six Washington batters for his first save.
José Caballero hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth to give New York a two-run lead.
The Yankees are 6-34 when trailing after seven innings, with half of the wins coming in this series.
James Wood led off the bottom of the first with a home run, and Curtis Mead also homered for Washington. Wood's 28th homer of the year was also his 10th leadoff shot, breaking the Nationals' record he shared with Alfonso Soriano, who hit nine in 2006.
Cody Bellinger led off the fifth with a double for the Yankees and scored on Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s single. After a wild pitch moved Chisholm to second, Austin Wells hit a two-out RBI single to make it 2-1.
Mead came up as a pinch-hitter and homered in the sixth to tie it. Chisholm's throwing error with two outs in the seventh allowed a run to score, giving the Nationals a 3-2 advantage.
Washington's Cade Cavalli allowed two runs and four hits in six innings in his first start since serving a five-game suspension for his role in a bench-clearing incident in Boston on June 30.
Abimelec Ortiz hit third in his major league debut for Washington. He went 1 for 2 with a double before Mead hit for him in the sixth.
The Yankees return after the break on Friday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Nationals go on the road to face the Athletics.
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Washington Nationals' Jorbit Vivas is hit by a pitch from New York Yankees' Will Warren during the second inning of a baseball game, Sunday July 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice fields a ground ball to put out Washington Nationals' CJ Abrams during the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday July 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
New York Yankees starting pitcher Will Warren throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Sunday July 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Lindsey Graham, the garrulous son of South Carolina pool hall owners, rose to become a fixture on the global stage and one of the most prominent advocates of American military might in the U.S. Senate.
A former military lawyer who reached the rank of colonel in the Air Force, the wisecracking Graham was known for his Southern drawl, political flexibility and reliably hawkish stance on foreign policy. He ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 as a determined opponent of Donald Trump, then became one of the new president's staunchest allies.
In his typical high-energy manner, Graham had just returned to Washington from a trip to Ukraine, having announced a deal with the Trump administration for a new package of sanctions against Russia. He was due to appear on NBC's “Meet the Press” on Sunday to discuss it. Trump appeared in the senator's place.
“I just can’t believe it,” Trump said. “He was like a member of the family.”
Graham died Saturday night after what the Washington, D.C., medical examiner said was a rupture in his aorta. He was 71.
His death brought encomiums from world leaders and, closer to home, Republicans and Democrats alike, a mark of his influence and his ability to befriend colleagues of different political persuasions. In an outpouring of tributes, lawmakers expressed their shock and remembered his good humor, kindness and zest for the political arena.
Graham was part of the “Never Trump” movement during his 2016 run and feuded heatedly with his reality television star rival during the campaign. He was especially upset at Trump for “slandering” his close friend and political brother-in-arms, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. “You know, run for president, but don’t be the world’s biggest jackass,” Graham said.
By coming around to Trump, particularly in the years after McCain's death in 2018, Graham amassed influence as an intermediary to the White House. Graham and Trump enjoyed a close relationship and became frequent golfing partners, though their relationship ruptured for a time after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Still, a year later, Graham was urging Republicans to rally behind Trump again rather than side with critics calling for his political exile.
“Can I just say to my Republican colleagues — can we move forward without President Trump?" Graham said on Fox News in 2022. “The answer is no,” he said, adding “we can't grow without him.”
Graham was born to Millie and Florence James Graham of Central, South Carolina on July 19, 1955. The couple owned a restaurant, bar and pool hall in the town. Graham, his parents and younger sister all lived in one room in the back of the building.
“It was one room, where we all slept, we all ate, we watched TV, the sofa, everything was in one room,” his sister Darline recalled in 2015.
Only a C student in high school, Graham still became the first member of his family to attend college at the University of South Carolina. While he was at college, his mother died of Hodgkin lymphoma. Months later, his father was diagnosed with prostate cancer and died of a heart attack.
Graham, a lifelong bachelor who never had children, became the guardian for his younger sister after his parents' death, and later in life often extolled the benefits of Social Security that helped keep them financially afloat.
After earning his law degree, Graham served as a judge advocate general in the Air Force, starting as a defense attorney for accused troops and eventually rising to the Air Force's chief prosecutor in Europe. He remained a reserve or National Guard member for decades.
Upon returning to South Carolina, Graham soon dove into politics. He won a statehouse seat in 1992 and then a U.S. House seat in 1994.
In 2002, when Strom Thurmond, South Carolina's senior senator, decided to retire at 99, Graham ran for his seat and won. He quickly took to the Senate and its emphasis on relationships.
Much of Graham's career was defined by his close relationship with McCain and Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut Democrat who later became an independent. Calling themselves “The Three Amigos,” the senators traveled the world and pushed for U.S. intervention in several places, particularly the Middle East after the 9/11 attacks.
When McCain died in 2018, Graham broke down in tears on the Senate floor as he memorialized his friend.
“He failed a lot, but he never quit,” Graham said.
In the latter part his career Graham leaned on his legal background to take a key role in judicial appointments, especially to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2018, when Trump's nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, faced accusations of sexual misconduct, Graham helped turn the tide with an impassioned defense of the federal judge.
Still, Graham's partisan side was usually tamped down as he positioned himself as a dealmaker. Almost any bipartisan “gang” in the Senate always has had him as a member.
Associated Press writers Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, and Lisa Mascaro, Seung Min Kim and Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.
FILE - Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks to the press about the appointment of federal judges during a news conference with Senate candidate Rep. Jim DeMint, right, at the Federal courthouse in Greenville, S.C., Oct. 21, 2004. (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain, File)
FILE - President-elect Barack Obama looks on as Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. discusses his recent trip to Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait and Pakistan, Jan. 14, 2009, at Obama's transition office in Washington. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
FILE - Sen. Lindsey Graham, R- S.C., walks down the steps of the State Capitol building in Columbia, S.C., Jan. 14, 2015. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro, File)
FILE - Sen Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks to the media before the CBS News Republican presidential debate at the Peace Center, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, in Greenville, S.C. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt, File)
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. answers a question from a media member near damaged Russian vehicles on display in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
FILE - Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks to reporters outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
FILE - Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., flanked by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., right, speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Sept. 26, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
FILE - Senate Armed Services Committee members, from left, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the committee's ranking Republican, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., take part in a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
FILE - U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., gestures as he speaks to the media in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File)
