The Yankees rounded out their nine-game homestand with an 8-7 win over the Texas Rangers on Sunday afternoon, finishing the homestand with a 5-4 record.
Here are the key takeaways…
– Marcus Stroman was hit hard the last time he took the mound, giving up seven earned runs on eight hits in just 2.2 innings against the Toronto Blue Jays. With Clarke Schmidt working his way back as a potential rotation piece, Stroman needed a bounce-back outing to shore up his spot in the rotation, and that’s exactly what he turned in on Sunday.
Stroman recorded grounder after grounder, holding the Rangers to four hits over his 5.0+ innings. Stroman was pulled in the sixth after allowing a walk and an RBI double to Corey Seager, but he left the game having allowed only one earned run. He only struck out one batter and walked three, but he recorded eight groundouts as opposed to just one fly out.
– Intentionally walking Aaron Judge has become in vogue lately, and Rangers skipper Bruce Bochy went with the trend in the bottom of the fifth inning, giving Judge a free pass to put runners on the corners with two outs. Right-hander Jose Leclerc was brought in, and he immediately served up a three-run blast to Giancarlo Stanton, who stayed back on a breaking ball and pulled a line-drive laser over the wall in left.
Stanton now has 13 seasons with at least 20 home runs (the most of any active player), and he certainly sent a message about the dangers of giving Judge the ol’ free pass.
– Juan Soto doubled the Yankees’ early lead, pummeling a solo home run in the bottom of the third inning to extend the Yankees’ lead to 2-0. Facing lefty Andrew Heaney, Soto destroyed a fastball into the bleachers in right center. A no-doubt shot off the bat, the blast was Soto’s 29th of the season.
And he wasn’t done there. With the Yankees’ lead cut down to three runs in the bottom of the seventh, Soto launched his second moonshot of the day, a solo tank off of Andrew Chafin, another lefty. Soto’s 30th of the season was then followed by a Judge bomb, as the power of this Yankees lineup was on full display.
– It was some tough sledding for the Yankees’ bullpen in the top of the seventh. After Jake Cousins allowed a single to Adolis Garcia, Tommy Kahnle came in and loaded the bases, and Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s lack of experience at third cost the Yankees a pair of runs. Chisholm cut in front of Anthony Volpe on a ball that should have been an easy groundout to end the inning, only to see the ball deflect off his glove and into the outfield.
Mark Leiter Jr. then allowed a pair of home runs and three earned runs in the eighth, as the Rangers made things a little too close for comfort at 8-6.
Clay Holmes was needed for the final four outs, and he labored through the ninth, allowing an RBI single to Garcia to cut the lead down to one run. With runners at second and third, though, Holmes got Leody Taveras to ground out to second to end the game. Holmes needed 45 pitches to get out of the jam.
Who was the game MVP?
Soto, who went 2-for-5 with two solo shots.
Highlights
Upcoming schedule
The Yankees hit the road for a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox, beginning on Monday night at 8:10 p.m.
Luis Gil will face lefty Ky Bush.
Source Agencies
