Stanton and Cole Power Yankees to Opening Day Win in D.C.

YANKEES 4 - NATIONALS 1

The raindrops were not enough to stymie the Yankees who leaned on the power of Giancarlo Stanton and the right arm of new staff ace Gerrit Cole to a rain-shortened 4-1 victory over the defending World Series Champion Washington Nationals, Thursday.

Stanton and Aaron Judge accounted for four of the Yankees six hits, and all four RBIs in the evening. Stanton's two-run blast to straight away center field, 459 feet from home plate, was the exclamation point on the night, and it was only the first inning.

The Yankees would tack on a run in the third inning on Judge's RBI double that brought home Tyler Wade to make it 3-1 Yankees in the third inning. Stanton capped off the scoring the fourth on a RBI single to right that scored Gio Urshela in the top of the fifth inning.

As for Cole, he settled in nicely after serving up a solo shot to Adam Eaton in the bottom of the first. Cole gave up only one hit, the Eaton homer, over five innings of work, while striking out five. At one point Cole retired 10 in a row before walking Asdrubal Cabrera in the bottom of the fifth.

Of course the game couldn't have started without a little controversy as Nationals outfielder Juan Soto tested positive for COVID-19. Soto did not play Thursday, and is now in quarantine until further notice. He needs two negative tests before rejoining the team. According to Nats GM Mike Rizzon, Soto is asymptomatic.

The news is a rude reminder of the conditions with which baseball is playing under this year. There is grave concern that the 2020 season will never finish because of the virus which is spreading across the United States.