WASHINGTON — Jasson Domínguez began Friday as one of the Yankees’ hotter hitters of late — which wasn’t exactly saying much, given their collective funk before Thursday’s breakout — but Aaron Boone is setting a higher bar.
As in more of what Domínguez did Friday night.
The 23-year-old outfielder smoked a solo shot from the left side and later singled from the right side in the ninth inning to start the game-winning rally as the Yankees beat the Nationals 5-3 at Nationals Park.
“I feel like I’ve been getting better,” Domínguez said. “I’ve been working to take better at-bats. Just go and compete, and that’s been my only focus.”
At a time when the Yankees need all the offense they can get, Domínguez is batting .333 (10-for-30) over his past eight games. Still, he ended the night batting only .242 with a .709 OPS in 34 games this season.
“I expect more,” Boone said before the game. “I feel like really all year he’s giving solid at-bats every day, but hasn’t had that breakthrough yet. His on-base percentage should not be whatever it is [.276]. He’s so much more than that. But I feel like he hasn’t struggled at all in the time that he’s been up so far. But I feel like he hasn’t caught that fire yet either.
“He’s been a little unlucky, especially this last week. He’s hit some balls on the screws right at people. He did it a couple times in the Tampa series. So hopefully he’s starting to consistently square things up. When he’s doing that, he can do some special things out there with his speed and his power to all fields.”
The switch-hitter has the potential to be a difference maker in the Yankees lineup — often residing in the top half — especially as it carries on without Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton for the foreseeable future.
Domínguez remains a work in progress in right field, but if he can produce more consistently with his bat and legs, it would make his growing pains defensively easier to live with.
*Ryan Weathers turned in a strong outing against the game’s highest-scoring offense, holding the Nationals to just one run across 5 ¹/₃ innings despite receiving some shoddy defense behind him — including a pair of errors from third baseman Amed Rosario.
The left-hander changed up his pitch mix — leaning on his sweeper, slider and changeup and throwing just seven four-seam fastballs — to scatter six hits and no walks while striking out six.
“It’s definitely weird for me, but my job is to go out there and help the team win the ballgame,” Weathers said. “If me throwing less fastballs helps us win the ballgame, I want to go out there and win every possible game I can.”
Yankees Merch Shop
New York Post receives revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and when you make a purchase.
Paul Goldschmidt snapped out of an 0-for-34 skid with a single in the first inning, then later added an infield single.
Angel Chivilli had two encouraging outings in the final two games against the Rays, throwing a perfect inning Wednesday and two perfect innings with three strikeouts Thursday.
That earned him a longer stay on the roster instead of being sent back to Triple-A for a fresh arm Friday.
“Wow,” Boone said. “[Thursday] was really good. And coming off a game where he pitched the day before, to be able to give us two innings, because he was efficient and the strike throwing. The changeup’s a really good pitch. He was executing with it a lot in these last two games.”
He did not pitch in Friday night’s victory.
Ben Rice’s dad was at Nationals Park early Friday afternoon to throw him batting practice, as the two got a round of prep for Monday’s Home Run Derby at Citizens Bank Park.
