The Yankees were able to steal a series from the first-place Rangers on Sunday, as a late rally sparked a 5-3 comeback win in the Bronx.
With the Yankees trailing, 3-2, Anthony Volpe got the party started in the eighth inning when he led off with a double. Jose Trevino then reached on a slow ground ball to short, setting Harrison Bader up for a two-run double off Rangers reliever Yerry Rodriguez.
“Regardless of what it takes, after nine innings, just coming out with a win in any way possible is really the name of the game,” Bader said. “So sometimes you gotta grind it out, but to find a way after nine innings is most important. So just very fortunate; happy to be on the winning side as we continue rolling here.”
With Rodriguez still in the game, then added an RBI single for good measure. Stanton entered Sunday’s game with six hits and two RBI in his last 55 at-bats, but he didn’t want to bask in his insurance-run single.
“No, I got a lot to do,” the slugger said when asked if the hit took some weight off his shoulders. “So it’s good for now, but that doesn’t clear it for me.”
Prior to the three-run frame, the Rangers made Gerrit Cole labor from the get-go on a humid day. A first-inning single from Corey Seager gave Texas a quick 1-0 lead, and Cole needed 27 pitches to get through the opening inning.
Texas then scored two more off the right-hander in the second, as Jonah Heim hit a solo home run before Leody Taveras picked up an RBI double.
“I thought the shape of the slider was good,” manager Aaron Boone said. “His cutter was a factor today, and the life was there on the heater. They got to some pitches on him that were pretty well-executed. They got some good swings off on him and then, of course, made him work really hard on a warm day.”
Added Cole: “It was a battle, for sure. It was hot, sweaty, and they put a lot of good swings on the ball.”
All in all, Cole totaled 4.2 innings, nine hits, three earned runs, one walk and seven strikeouts over 107 pitches. While he didn’t allow any more runs after the second, he failed to complete five innings for the first time since June 9 of last year.
now has a 2.78 ERA this season.
Nathan Eovaldi, on the other hand, held his former team to two earned runs over 5.2 innings. The right-hander also tallied four hits, two walks, five strikeouts and 86 pitches.
Eovaldi now has a 2.82 ERA in his first season with the Rangers. The Yankees’ only runs off him came courtesy of , who smoked a two-run double in the second inning.
“Those are our big dogs,” Bader said of LeMahieu and Stanton. “Those are our guys who have been doing it for a long time. So to see them settle in and take some really good swings and have some really positive results, which is really difficult to get at times, it’s awesome for them. It’s awesome for us.”
Jimmy Cordero, Nick Ramirez, Ron Marinaccio and Michael King kept the Rangers at bay out of the bullpen.
With the , the team has Monday off before beginning a road trip against two last-place teams.
The will host the Yankees from June 27-29. The Yanks swept Oakland over three games at Yankee Stadium in May thanks to an offensive onslaught that broke the Bombers out of a funk. They’re hoping another series against the A’s does the same for the Yankees’ lineup, which has scored more than three runs just fives times since June 6.
Jhony Brito, Domingo German and Clarke Schmidt will pitch against the A’s, while Paul Blackburn and former Yankee JP Sears are scheduled to throw for Oakland. The A’s haven’t announced their Thursday starter yet.
Once the Yankees are done in California, they’ll head to St. Louis for three games against a surprisingly bad Cardinals team.
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