Table of Contents
Marcus Stroman He couldn’t get out of the fourth inning and the Yankees The bats produced just five hits in eight innings before a late comeback in the ninth in a 10-6 loss to the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night.
New York lost its third straight series and fell to 22-20 since the All-Star break, having lost six of its last 10. But the Yankees (80-60) remained a half-game out of the AL East lead after Baltimore (81-60) earlier lost to the lowly White Sox.
Here are the conclusions…
– Stroman had problems in the first when Tuesday night’s Grand Slam villain Wyatt Langford single and Nathaniel Lowe He did the same thing by putting runners on the corners with one out. Stroman got the grounder he wanted, but the slow pitcher gave Texas the first run of the game. The pitching coach Matt Blake He came out for an early visit after a two-out walk before the right-hander induced a weak grounder.
The Rangers were given a double to start the second when a high fly ball to shallow center fell just short of a diving pitch. Judge Aaronwho was playing very far back against Leody Taveras. AND Ezequiel Duran made Stroman pay for a slur left on the plate by hitting it into the right field corner for an RBI double.
A beautiful bunt with one out down the third base line put two runners on base, but Stroman got Langford to look (with a great 1-1 strike that went his way thanks to a good presentation by Jose Trevino) and Lowe swinging to avoid the big inning.
But Trouble found Stroman in the fourth on back-to-back singles (the first an infield variety) and a steal of second put two in scoring position. A dribbler against a closed infield meant the Yankees traded an out for a run. But Stroman couldn’t get the final out when Langford hit an RBI to the right gap and took second on slightly sluggish defense. That hustle was important as it allowed him to score on Lowe’s single, narrowly beating Juan SotoThe strong throw of ‘s to the plate.
That ended Stroman’s night with a runner on second: 3 2/3 innings, nine hits, five runs, one walk and three strikeouts on 88 pitches (55 strikes). He threw 10 first-pitch strikes to 21 batters, who posted a .356 expected batting average against the Yankees starter.
– In the Yankees’ previous eight games, Soto is hitting .182 (6-for-33) with a .513 OPS and Judge is hitting .194 (6-for-31) with a .582 OPS. Neither has homered during that span (which equals the longest stretch of Judge’s career) and, unsurprisingly, the Yankees have just three wins.
In the first, Soto lined a ball off the glove of Lowe, who was leaping at first base, for a one-out double, perhaps a sign that luck was leaning in his favor. Judge threw the first pitch he saw from the Rangers starter. Nathan Eovaldi a mile high to the left, but with an easy exit.
Soto and Judge were each given four-pitch walks to load the bases with two outs in the third after Gleyber TorresAn infield hit with two outs kept the inning alive. But after a trip to the mound, Jazz Chisholm Jr. He soared to the right on a curveball on the first pitch to leave them loaded.
In the fifth, after Torres drew a two-out walk (he got a 1-2 pitch to go his way and a 3-2 swing to go his way) Soto launched a ball down the left-field line that stayed in the park and went over the wall for a two-run homer. Eovaldi’s (1-0) cutter was up and away and Soto took advantage (350 feet and 102.7 mph off the bat) to give him 38 homers and 98 RBIs on the year.
Soto would finish the night 3-for-3 with a walk and a pair of extra-base hits. Judge finished the day 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout, and is now nine games without a home run. (Both were pulled for defense in the eighth.)
– Alex VerdugoAfter being frustrated with two outs, he singled with one out in the seventh to extend a meager hitting streak to five games. The struggling left fielder has now hit safely in 10 of the past 11 games (he’s hitting .341 with a .796 OPS).
However, he failed to complete any of the balls he put into play and was suspended with the match out of control. Duke Ellis.
– Things got weird in the top of the ninth. Working his second inning of relief Matt’s Party He got the first two outs on 10 pitches before loading the bases on the next 20 pitches. Anderson Grant came in and Trent Grishama defensive replacement, hit a grand slam off the foul pole in right field on a 3-2 pitch to cut the lead to four.
Ellis hit a pop-out to left for his first career MLB hit and Chisholm hit a rocket off Anderson’s leg for an infield hit. Bruce Bochy He was forced to call his superior, Kirby Yatesface Giancarlo Stanton, who until then was 0 for 4 with three strikeouts (two on wild swings at balls outside the zone).
And on a 2-2 fastball over the heart of the plate, Stanton hit a rocket (103.9 mph) to left, but Langford leaped to catch the ball against the wall, likely robbing him of a three-run homer to end the game. The 382-foot blast would have been a homer in 13 ballparks, but not in the Bronx.
– Antonio Volpe He came close to hitting a home run in his first appearance, but his 364-foot blast was just a fly ball off the left-field wall. It would have been a homer in 14 of 30 stadiums, but not at Yankee Stadium. The shortstop began the night with 12 hits in his final 29 at-bats, but finished the day 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
– Treviño, starting with Austin Wells Still beaten After getting hit in Monday’s game, he went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. He allowed two stolen bases.
– Scott Effross The first to come out of the bullpen and achieved a walk in the fourth inning in 1.1 with two strikeouts. But the rest of the bullpen (outside Phil BickfordThe eighth team’s 1-2-3 had difficulties.
Tim Mayza He got through the sixth inning and put two on board with one out on a double and a four-pitch walk to Langford. An infield hit with his glove on a soft grounder ended his night with the bases loaded.
Mark Leiter Jr. came in and Aroldis Garcia He hit a 2-1 sweeper that sailed too far off the plate into the left-field corner for a two-run double. A wild pitch — on an 0-2 pitch that Trevino should have done a better job on — drove in one more to make it 8-2.
Marinaccio Rum He issued a four-pitch walk, allowed a steal of second, a double and a two-out RBI hit to Langford in the seventh.
Highlights
Game MVP: Nathan Eovaldi
The Rangers right-hander allowed just two runs and four hits, with three walks and six strikeouts on 99 pitches (67 strikes) in seven innings of work. Honorable mention goes to Texas’ Langford, Lowe and Duran, who combined for nine hits and five RBIs.
What’s next?
The Yankees have Thursday off before opening a three-game series on the North Side of the Windy City beginning Friday afternoon with first pitch at 2:20 p.m. EDT.
New York sends a right-handed pitcher Luis Gil (3.39 ERA and 1.195 WHIP in 124.2 innings) in his 25th start of the season and first since coming off the disabled list. The rookie hit a wall before the injury, pitching to a 9.00 ERA in 7.0 innings over his last two starts.
The Cubs have yet to announce starters for the series, but the Yankees will avoid the excellent rookie Shota Imanagawho pitched the first seven innings of Chicago’s combined no-hitter on Wednesday night.