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For a little while Wednesday night, the Yankees appeared to be repeating a boring trend early in the season. Several times in the first half they would win the first two games of a series against a lesser opponent before allowing them to escape the final with a victory. In a similar style, Texas took an early 3-0 lead as the Yankees offense battled an average starter.
Fortunately, the first half is a thing of the past and even with some difficulties in early September, this Yankees club is playing much better than the previous edition. Thanks in large part to receivers Kyle Higashioka and Gary Sánchez, they rallied to equalize before coming out with an eighth of four points. It was enough to slam the door at the Rangers, 7-3, and complete a much-needed three-game sweep. With the loss of Toronto, the Yankees are back to second in the Wild Card.
Corey Kluber got the start for the Yankees, and the Rangers did their part to make sure he didn’t duplicate his mastery without a May 19 hit. They got their first hit in the ball game, and while Kluber hit the side to block the runner, Texas dented home in the second.
Adolis García started off with a slow roll to the center that landed a hit into the field, then moved into position to score with a stolen base. Willie Calhoun followed by smashing a ball that a better first baseman Luke Voit would have handled, but he bounced back put on his glove and in right field for an RBI single. Kluber worked but kept Texas on one point. Nonetheless, he left the mound at the end of the second with 46 arm throws and a 1-0 deficit.
The Yankees were able to stop the Rangers’ run in the middle of the second against Taylor Hearn. Giancarlo Stanton smoked a 378-foot missile from the right wall of the field and Joey Gallo walked over to put two men without anyone. A slow roll from Gleyber Torres brought them forward, but Gio Urshela’s ball wasn’t deep enough to score Stanton and the Yankees blocked the runners after a steal from Higashioka. A Brett Gardner debut single in third didn’t turn into nothing either, as Hearn continued to push them back.
Texas added to their lead with two strikeouts in the fourth. DJ Peters lined up a ball on Gallo’s jump attempt and on the left-field wall for a brace. It would have taken great defensive play to trap him, but no cigar. Brock Holt was next and while he barely made good contact he moved behind DJ LeMahieu in third place. Peters scored and Texas had a 2-0 advantage.
A set later, the Rangers knocked Kluber out of the game. Yonny Hernandez reached second on a shallow brace in the center, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa scored on the left side to make it 3-0, in Texas. Kluber got the next out, but manager Aaron Boone called him there one day. Wandy Peralta took out Kluber and Sees error prone, so Kluber started with a three-run line allowed on eight hits and no walks in 4.1 innings of work with four strikeouts. There was a bunch of weak contacts in there, but Kluber wasn’t as sharp as he was against Cleveland in his last outing.
The Yankees finally got a point over Hearn in the fifth. Torres walked and Urshela lined up a single down the middle to put two men again without any outs. This time, they didn’t pass up the opportunity, as Higashioka hit a 368-foot double at center field:
Just like that, it was a 3-2 game with the threat for more.
Brett Gardner did his job by putting a ball on the ground first to move Higashioka to third, and LeMahieu then lifted a ball 276 feet to García on the right. Even with a wide receiver on base, it felt deep enough for third base coach Phil Nevin to send Higgy home. Alas, García unloaded a absolutely perfect throw nailing Higashioka at home. The Rangers held onto their 3-2 lead, but narrowly.
Peralta threw up a quick relief heat in the sixth, and the Yankees put Hearn back on the ropes as the southpaw lost control. With one out, he gave back-to-back marches for Stanton and Aaron Judge. Right-hander Dennis Santana stepped in for Hearn’s relief, and he joined in the fun by giving Gallo a free pass, charging up the bases. With a strikeout and a great opportunity to put a crooked number on the scoreboard, Torres and Urshela assembled a few very uncompetitive batsmen to waste it…
… but not before the low-key 2021 Yankees MVP has stepped up to tie the game together:
Good old wild terrain with runner in third. What would the 2021 Yankees be without you?
Clay Holmes came in afterwards and put the Rangers hitters to work quickly to put the Yankees back at bat. Hernandez and Kiner-Falefa were falling on strikes, and Andy Ibáñez could at best handle a weak roll past home plate. The right reliever continues to be the discovery of the trade deadline by Brian Cashman.
Higashioka had a nice throw to end the start of the seventh, and he shot a single to the right to lead the half. Tyler Wade ran by pinch and did his job sliding second on Gardner’s strikeout, then third with LeMahieu at bat. This time around, a flying ball surely would have marked the runner, but LeMahieu pathetically hailed a poor throw from Josh Sborz for the third strike. Anthony Rizzo appeared and another scoring opportunity was abandoned.
Remember when García sent off Higashioka at home earlier in the game? Higgy’s teammate took some revenge on the rookie slugger. García reached base in the eighth with a shortstop error from Urshela, and he was second. This time, however, it was Gary Sánchez behind the plate:
As the tweet says: Don’t run on Gary. The Ranger’s brief attempt to rally was crushed.
After much teasing, the Yankees offense finally erupted in the late eighth. It all started with a little bloop two exits from Gallo. He went to the left side, where there was no one in sight because of the lag, and he reached second place on a brace. Given a chance to redeem his previous batting, Torres capitalized by placing a ball in the right corner of the pitch for a brace to put the Yankees in front:
It’s been a long season for Gleyber, but this one must have been feeling good.
A single from Urshela and a mistake from Hernandez allowed Torres to barely score, making it a 5-3 game. The insurance race was appreciated, but luckily Sánchez decided that a little more wouldn’t hurt. The hard-hitting catcher hit a 420-foot home run down the middle of the court, allowing his teammates and fans to go crazy and breathe much easier:
What a night for the Yankees’ capture duo. Higashioka and Sánchez combined to play 3-for-4 with a double, a homerun and four RBIs.
Given that the Yankees have a rest day ahead on Thursday, Boone decided not to bother, even with a four-point lead. Aroldis Chapman entered for his second outing in three days and never gave the Rangers a chance. He called the team out in order on 11 pitches, striking out the last two batters for good measure.
Mission accomplished and secure scanning. The Yankees will rest tomorrow before heading to Boston for a crucial three-game set at the Dreaded Hall of Doubles. Gerrit Cole will face Nathan Eovaldi in a prime-time game Friday at 7:10 p.m. ET. There’s no doubt it’s going to be intense, so take a deep breath and we’ll meet up in the game this weekend!
The score of the box
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