The New York Yankees will go for the series sweep against the Washington Nationals on Sunday as the teams close out the first half and enter the All-Star break.

After losing 11 of 13 games, the Yankees have won three straight, the last two coming via dramatic late-inning comebacks against the struggling Nationals bullpen.

On Friday night, the Yankees hit two home runs in a three-run ninth and won 5-3. Saturday, they smacked three homers in a four-run eighth and beat the Nationals 4-2.

In the finale, New York turns to right-hander Will Warren (7-4, 4.15 ERA), who will be opposed by Washington right-hander Cade Cavalli (5-4, 3.88).

The Yankees are 12-6 overall in Warren’s starts this season but have lost his last four as he has pitched to a 6.53 ERA and given up six home runs in that stretch. In his last start, Warren allowed six runs on seven hits (three of them homers) in four innings of a 6-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday.

Warren gave up back-to-back homers to Hunter Feduccia and Yandy Diaz in a four-run fourth inning.

“I didn’t do a good job of landing my offspeed early, so they were selling out to the fastball,” Warren said.

The 27-year-old Warren has never faced the Nationals.

Cavalli returns after a five-game suspension for his part in a bench-clearing scuffle against the Red Sox at Fenway Park on June 30. That day, he tossed seven strong innings, striking out a career-high 13 while allowing one unearned run and picking up the win. Last time out on July 5, he lasted just 2 1/3 innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates and gave up four runs (three earned).

Cavalli threw just 63 pitches and told Nats Journal he was feeling light-headed on a hot, humid Sunday afternoon.

“It was just a really weird feeling that I was having,” he said. “But it’s no excuse for how I threw the ball. I wanted to go out there and compete for my guys and not have the physical strain of how I was feeling affect anything.”

Cavalli lost his only previous start against New York, allowing eight runs (seven earned) in 2 1/3 innings last August.

After lefty-lefty matchups failed on Friday, Nationals manager Blake Butera went righty-lefty on Saturday with similar negative results. Right-handed relievers Orlando Ribalta and Clayton Beeter combined to surrender home runs to left-handed batters Ryan McMahon and Trent Grisham as well as righty Paul Goldschmidt.

“I’m searching right now,” Butera said. “I talked about it after last night’s game, obviously reevaluating what we’re doing. And today, you saw we had a little different approach there at the end. Wanted to give our best relievers a shot to help us win the game. And it didn’t go our way.”

James Wood had three hits including a homer for Washington, and Curtis Mead had a homer and a single.

New York was shut out for seven innings by a trio of Washington pitchers before striking in the eighth.

“Just some really good winning at-bats when we needed it,” manager Aaron Boone said. “(We) were held down. One of those days a little similar to (Friday) night, where we got some opportunities and can’t cash in, but a lot of big at-bats late.”

–Field Level Media

Right-hander Trent Thornton is emerging as a much-needed weapon in the Chicago Cubs’ bullpen, which is exceeding expectations while closer Daniel Palencia remains sidelined with right elbow inflammation.

Thornton has made four straight scoreless outings for the Cubs, who face the host Cincinnati Reds in the rubber match of a three-game series on Sunday.

Chicago evened the series with a 5-3 win on Saturday. Alex Bregman hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the seventh inning and Carson Kelly added a solo shot for Chicago, which won for the fourth time in its last six games.

The Reds had runners on second and third in the ninth inning before Thornton entered and retired Sal Stewart on a grounder to second base for his third save.

“He’s doing a heck of a job,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “He’s got guts; he’s got big guts. Credit to him. At the end of the game, that last out in the ninth inning is a difficult out. Thorny has certainly stepped up when we needed it.”

Counsell used five relievers and continues to juggle roles without Palencia, who is not expected to return until later this month.

“When the phone rings (in the bullpen), they don’t necessarily know who it’s going to be,” Counsell said. “But they’re all doing their jobs really well. I couldn’t be happier with what they’re doing.”

Cincinnati is looking to head into the All-Star break on a high note after losing Saturday for the fifth time in its last eight games. Nathaniel Lowe, Eugenio Suarez and JJ Bleday each hit solo homers for the Reds, who went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

“We had some really good at-bats and we drove the ball out of the ballpark,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “But when you don’t have a ton of opportunities, if you don’t cash in, it becomes more glaring.”

The pitching matchup for the series finale features a pair of left-handers as Chicago’s Matthew Boyd (4-1, 4.31 ERA) opposes Cincinnati’s Andrew Abbott (5-5, 3.92).

Boyd, 35, pitched six scoreless innings in a 5-2 road victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday.

“He was really good,” Bregman said. “I thought the fastball was really good. The slider was good, and the curveball, too. He was in a rhythm.”

Boyd is 2-0 with a 1.72 ERA in three starts since coming off the injured list. He has been limited to eight starts this season due to two separate IL stints.

Eugenio Suarez is 1-for-12 with six strikeouts all-time against Boyd, who is 1-3 with a 6.48 ERA in five career starts versus Cincinnati.

The Reds will counter with Abbott, 27, who allowed three runs over six innings in a 4-1 home loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday.

Abbott retired the first seven batters before running into trouble in the third, when Kyle Schwarber capped a three-run outburst with a two-run homer.

“I kept a good offense pretty quiet other than one mistake,” Abbott said. “But then again, Schwarber is a good hitter. Fastball is one of my best pitches. He just put a good swing on it.”

Dansby Swanson is 6-for-17 (.353) with two homers against Abbott, who is 3-1 with a 2.23 ERA in eight career starts versus the Cubs.

–Field Level Media

Cleveland Guardians left-hander Joey Cantillo, who has a 1.80 ERA in two July starts, isn’t easy to hit.

Cantillo, who will start against the host Miami Marlins on Sunday as the Guardians look for a three-game sweep, has an over-the-top delivery that gives batters fits. In fact, from last year to this season, his hard-hit rate has dropped from 41.8% to 36.5%.

Cantillo is 7-4 with a 3.66 ERA this season, his third in the majors. He’s already set a career high in wins and looks for his eighth in his first career start against the Marlins.

As for Cleveland’s offense, third baseman Jose Ramirez and left fielder Angel Martinez are on the injured list, along with their combined 21 homers, and Guardians manager Stephen Vogt can’t wait to get them back.

“We haven’t played our best baseball (without them),” Vogt said. “But we’ve found ways to win.”

Without Ramirez and Martinez, other Guardians players have emerged, including rookie right fielder Chase DeLauter, who has 10 homers, 45 RBIs and a .279 batting average, best among everyday starters on the team.

“Chase is learning faster than most,” Vogt said. “Good hitters foul (tough) pitches off, and Chase has done that.”

DeLauter, Cleveland’s first-round pick (No. 16 overall) in 2022, is part of a stellar rookie class for the Guardians. That class includes starting second baseman Travis Bazzana (first overall pick in 2024) and starting pitcher Parker Messick (second-rounder in 2022), both of whom are among Cleveland’s three players selected to the All-Star Game.

Then again, using rookies in key places is necessary for the Guardians, who have the lowest payroll in the major leagues ($80 million).

The Marlins, meanwhile, have the second-lowest payroll ($80.8 million).

That being said, the Guardians and Marlins would both be in the playoffs if the season ended today. And, by contrast, the Mets — who have the highest payroll in baseball at $328.7 million — are essentially out of contention this year.

After initially not announcing a starter, Miami will start right-hander Tyler Phillips (2-3, 3.28) in his ongoing conversion from reliever to starter.

After his first 15 appearances this season came out of the bullpen, he’s started eight of his last nine outings. By now, he’s essentially completed the transformation, throwing a season-high 97 pitches in his fourth and final June start.

The 28-year-old’s two July starts have been a mixed bag. After he was tagged for five runs on seven hits over 3 1/3 innings against the Athletics on July 3, he delivered five shutout innings and was the winning pitcher in Wednesday’s 2-0 win over the Mariners.

“Really nice bounce-back for Tyler,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said after Phillips’ last start. “As he continues to make this transition back to starting, filling up the zone (is key) because he’s got so many weapons to go to. I think that’s kind of the ticket is being on attack and giving himself count leverage.”

Since Phillips will be on three days’ rest after a 71-pitch outing, the Marlins bullpen will need to do some heavier lifting than normal in the final game before the All-Star break.

On paper, that shouldn’t be a problem for the Marlins, who have a 3.72 bullpen ERA, seventh-best in the majors.

–Field Level Media