WASHINGTON _ Masahiro Tanaka's Tuesday night ended far better than it started.
As a result he and Tyler Austin, had the Yankees in position to win their 20th game in 23 tries.
Tanaka allowed a first-inning homer, then watched the Nationals tack on two more runs in the second inning, which put the Yankees in a three-run hole against a team that had won 13 of its last 15 and had standout lefthander Gio Gonzalez and his killer curveball on the mound.
But by the time the heavy thunderstorms that created havoc up and down the East Coast hit Nationals Park, delaying the game at 9:01 p.m., just before the Nationals came to bat in the sixth, Tanaka had settled, allowing his offense to rally to tie the score at 3.
The game, officially suspended at 10:08 p.m., will be resumed at 5:05 p.m. Wednesday.
Tanaka, after allowing an RBI double to Pedro Severino with one out in the second that made it 3-0, retired his final 11 batters.
Tanaka allowed three runs and four hits over five innings. He struck out two and did not walk a batter.
The Yankees, an MLB-best 28-12 coming in and with a half-game lead over the Red Sox in the AL East, slowly grinded away at Gonzalez. The left-hander, taking the mound 4-2 with a 2.22 ERA this season, frustrated the Yankees early, stranding two runners in each of the first two innings.
But Austin, in a 0-for-23 slump coming into the night but with a single in his first at-bat of the game, crushed a two-run homer in the fourth, a 28-pitch inning for Gonzalez that cut the Yankees' deficit to 3-2. His sacrifice fly in the fifth, a 34-pitch inning for Gonzalez that finished his night at 111 pitches, tied it at 3. Gonzalez allowed three runs (two earned) and six hits in five innings. He struck out five, four in the first two innings, and walked four.
Tanaka retired the first two Nationals he faced in the first but threw a flat 1-and-1 sinker to Anthony Rendon, who blasted it out to left for his fourth homer and a 1-0 Washington lead. It was the ninth homer allowed by Tanaka this season, the most on the staff.
The Nationals added on in the second, a 27-pitch inning. Veteran Howie Kendrick, a longtime Yankee tormentor as he came in with a career average against them of .346, led off with a double. After Mark Reynolds struck out, Andrew Stevenson grounded sharply to short, where Didi Gregorius tried for a backhand stop but couldn't quite come up with it, the play scored an RBI single. Severino followed with his double. Tanaka then bore down, beginning his streak of 11 straight retired by striking out Gonzalez.
The Yankees got a break, and capitalized, in the fourth. Gregorius led off with a routine fly to left, where Matt Adams drifted over and settled under it. But Stevenson, the center fielder, continued to call for the ball and knocked it away at the last moment, allowing Gregorius to pull into second on the error. Austin followed with his sixth homer.
The Yankees went back to work in the fifth. Aaron Judge walked for the second time and Giancarlo Stanton collected his 1,000th hit, a blooper to right. As lightning continued to flash, Gary Sanchez worked a walk to load the bases. Gregorius grounded into a 3-2 fielder's choice, extending his slide to 1-for-38, but Austin just missed on a grand slam, settling for a sacrifice fly to the middle of the track in center, which brought in Stanton.
