YANKEES TAKE 2 HARD LOSES TO TEXAS RANGERS

Monday night the Yankees began a 3 game series against the Texas Rangers. Gerrit Cole got the start against the other Leiter in the league, Jack. Cole pitched great, giving up only 1 run on 4 hits and struck out 9. Leiter pitched 5 innings and gave up 5 runs. Gleyber Torres hit a double in the third inning and 2 runs scored. The same inning Josh Smith hit a double for the Rangers but only 1 run scored. In the sixth inning the Yankees scored a bunch of runs. Aaron Judge hit a RBI double, Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a RBI single, 2 runs scored on a ground rule double by Anthony Rizzo, and Chisholm Jr. scored on a wild pitch. Wyatt Langford hit a 2 run home run for the Rangers in the seventh inning but Giancarlo Stanton hit a solo home run in the eighth inning; his tenth time hitting 25 home runs in a season. The Rangers scored a run in the ninth inning but it wasn’t enough. The Yankees won with a final score of 8-4.

Tuesday night Carlos Rodon pitched against Andrew Heaney. Rodon had an excellent night, giving up 1 run on 1 hit in six innings and striking out 11. Heaney pitched 5 innings; gave up 0 runs, 3 hits and struck out 8. It was a pitchers dual and was anybody’s game as the Rangers lead 1-0 going into the seventh inning. Josh Jung hit a solo home run in the fourth inning. Both teams went to their bullpens and that’s when the runs started. The Yankees scored 2 runs off Jose Leclerc. Jose Trevino had a RBI ground out and Alex Verdugo hit a RBI single. The Yankees scored 2 more runs in the eighth off a single by Anthony Volpe putting them up by 3. Jung hit a RBI single off Jake Cousins, then stole second, and Nathanial Lowe had a RBI sacrifice fly off Tim Hill putting the Rangers within 1 run. Clay Holmes came out to close the game but as we all know, he has had his struggles this year and unfortunately this was one of those nights. He gave up a single and walked the next two batters. With the bases loaded Wyatt Langford hit a walk off ground slam to win the game for the Rangers. Final score 4-7.

Wednesday night Marcus Stroman pitched against Nathan Eovaldi. Stroman didn’t have a great night. He gave up 5 runs on 9 hits in 3 2/3 innings. Eovaldi pitched 7 innings, gave up 2 runs and struck out 6. The Rangers scored 5 runs in the first four innings. All off a bunch of singles and doubles. Juan Soto hit a 2 run home run in the fifth inning putting the Yankees down by 3. But the Rangers scored 3 more runs in sixth inning off Mark Leiter. Then 2 more runs off Ron Marinaccio in the eighth inning. The Yankees, down 8 runs going into the ninth inning, attempted a comeback. With 2 outs, 3 batters walked, and Trent Grisham, who replaced Soto, hit a home run. The next 2 batters hit singles but Giancarlo Stanton struck out to end the game. The Rangers won this one. Final score 6-10.

In other news: Austin Wells who was hit by a pitch in game 1 sat the next two days.

The Yankees have a 3 game series this weekend against the Chicago Cubs. Luis Gil returns from the injured list to get the start Friday night.