Carlos Rodón stumbled out of the gates and the offense fell flat for a second consecutive night.

Once again, the Yankees dropped an entirely winnable game and series, falling to the Nationals in the finale 5-2. It wasn’t quite a repeat of Tuesday’s escapades, as they got the engine started a little bit sooner than right before the finish line, but the end result was largely the same as they squandered another opportunity to take advantage of their favorable schedule.

Starting off, things looked dicey for New York. They were given a gift with Gleyber Torres reaching on an error to lead off, but nothing else materialized from that inning. Immediately after, Carlos Rodón took the mound and served up a long ball to Dylan Crews, the Nationals’ top prospect playing in his third MLB game. Crews was on the board with his first career homer, but the inning was just starting for Rodón, who then allowed a single to James Wood and let him steal second base before tossing a wild pitch to move him to third. Finally, after Andrés Chaparro walked, Rodón balked to force in the runner and put them in a 2-0 hole.

The second inning started better, as the Yankees got their first run via a Jazz Chisholm Jr. solo shot (his 22nd of the year and ninth in just 20 games with the Bombers). However, Rodón ran into trouble again while the Nationals quite literally ran circles around him. Jacob Young slapped a one-out single and then stole second against him, and scored on a Nasim Nuñez single. Nuñez himself then stole second, scored on a James Wood single, and then Wood proceeded to steal two bases before getting stranded at third. It was a disaster for Rodón and Austin Wells behind the plate, as neither one could present even a threat of stopping the running game in an unusually brutal performance.

Rodón worked a quiet third inning thanks to a double play ball, but the fourth brought more of a mess. Young and Nuñez singled to put runners on first and second with one out, and then Crews drove a ball all the way to the wall in left-center for an RBI double. The Nationals could’ve threatened more, but because of how hard the ball ricocheted right into Alex Verdugo’s hands and how quick the relay came in to DJ LeMahieu, they caught Nuñez straying too far around third base for a free out. Not quite a full-blown disaster like the previous spots, but one that could’ve gotten there had they not been lucky.

The Yankees did have some more moments to get back in the game, and they cashed in during the fifth inning. Verdugo led off with a single, and two straight ground outs allowed him to move all the way to third. That put him in prime drive-in position for Aaron Judge, who singled to right to score the runner and make it a three-run game.

However, while that moment paid out there were others that didn’t. Wells led off the fourth inning by getting hit by a pitch, and a Chisholm single set up runners on the corners with one out. Unfortunately, DJ LeMahieu promptly grounded into a double play to kill the inning. Then in the sixth Anthony Volpe reached on a single and advanced on a wild pitch to put another runner in scoring position, but neither Chisholm or LeMahieu were able to bring him in. A Judge walk to start the eighth similarly ended in another double play.

The ninth inning was their last chance, and they were still in striking range thanks to an absurd double play in the bottom of the eighth. The Nationals had runners on first and second with no outs and José Tena drove a ball over Judge’s head in center, but because of how close he was to ranging over the runners initially held up. This caused a breakdown at the plate, as Joey Gallo couldn’t advance but Juan Yepez had advanced to third. The multi-phase rundown ultimately resulted in Gallo getting tagged out by third base and Tena getting tagged out between first and second, and then Luke Weaver was able to record the final out of the inning one at-bat later to somehow escape the jam.

Given that lifeline, New York made it even more interesting by getting the first two batters aboard. Faced with a do-or-die situation, Aaron Boone opted to pinch-hit Oswaldo Cabrera for LeMahieu, but wasn’t rewarded as Cabrera lined out to center. Both runners stole on defensive indifference to put them both in scoring position, but Verdugo and Torres both made out to close a wacky game out.

The Yankees couldn’t make do with the gifts they were given, and dropped both the series and a chance to preserve their narrow lead in the division. With the loss they’re just a half-game ahead of the Orioles who play a late-night game out in the West Coast. The division has ping-ponged back-and-forth between these teams for months now, and any opportunity to keep in on their side of the court can’t be passed up, but they let this one slip through. The Yankees’ road trip was a short one, as they’ll take tomorrow off before starting a series back in the Bronx against the Cardinals on Friday. We’ll see what the standings look like for first pitch of that game.