The Yankees followed up their 2-out-of-3 with The Other Team with a 3-game home series with the Texas Rangers. On Tuesday night, Will Warren took a 5-hit, 1-walk, 10-strikeout shutout into the 6th inning. But, because he'd thrown 101 pitches, and Aaron Boone uses a chart to handle pitchers, instead of, you know, common sense like a normal manager, he took Warren out. Fortunately for him, Mark Leiter Jr. finished the 6th and pitched the 7th, and Devin Williams pitched the 8th, without allowing a run.
For the Rangers, Patrick Corbin, who had given the Yankees trouble before, would not be so lucky this time. Ben Rice hit a home run in the 2nd inning, and he added an RBI with a sacrifice fly in the 4th. Anthony Volpe doubled home a run in the 6th. Trent Grisham singled to lead off the 8th, and Aaron Judge hit a home run to make it 5-0. Ian Hamilton ran into trouble in the 9th, and Boone had to bring Luke Weaver in to close it out, 5-2.
Ryan Yarbrough was permitted to throw only 81 pitches on Wednesday night. He went 5 full innings, allowing 1 run on 3 his and (I love typing these words for a Yankee pitcher) no walks, striking out 8. But 2 home runs by Jake Berger put the Yankees in a 3-1 hole going into the bottom of the 7th.
Time for the long ball again. Cody Bellinger hit one out in the 7th, Judge singled home a run in the 8th, and Jasson Domínguez won it with a long home run in the bottom of the 9th: Yankees 4, Rangers 3. Having pitched a perfect top of the 9th, Weaver was the winning pitcher.
Then came the dreaded DGANG: Day Game After a Night Game. After the night before, not an easy win, all signs pointed to a struggle for the Yankees.
Sometimes, you win the struggle.
Despite the weekday, a 12:35 PM start, and rainy weather, a crowd officially listed as 43,450 came out to the big ballyard in The Bronx. They saw a dandy of a pitching dule, between current Yankee Carlos Rodón and former Yankee Nathan Eovaldi. Rodón went 6 innings, allowing no runs on 2 hits and 2 walks, striking out 8. He was permitted to throw 105 pitches.
But the Yankees struggled against Eovaldi. Of course they did. They always do. He also went 6 innings, allowing only 1 run on 5 hits and 1 walk. But that 1 run was the 1st major league home run by Jorbit Vivas, off a 101-MPH fastball from Eovaldi to lead off the bottom of the 5th.
All right, you primitive screwheads, listen up! If Jorbit Vivas can hit a home run off a 101-MPH fastball, I don't want to hear one more damn word about how Babe Ruth wouldn't be able to hit today's pitchers! He would make physical therapy for whiplash more common than Tommy John surgery.
Anyway, the bullpen held up: Leiter pitched a scoreless 7th, Williams a perfect 8th, and Weaver a perfect 9th. Yankees 1, Rangers 0. The Yankees not only messed with Texas, they swept 'em. Yee ha.
The Yankees are now 30-19, on a pace for 99 wins. They lead the American League Eastern Division by 5 games over the Toronto Blue Jays, 6 over the Boston Red Sox, 7 over the Tampa Bay Rays, and 13 1/2 over the Baltimore Orioles.
This is despite not having one single appearance for Gerrit Cole (and they won't, all year), Luis Gil (might return to the starting rotation in mid-June), or Giancarlo Stanton (might be back in early June). Oswaldo Cabrera is likely out for the season. Jazz Chisholm Jr. might be back in early June. When Marcus Stroman will be available again is anybody's guess.
Tonight, the Yankees begin a roadtrip, in Denver to face the Colorado Rockies. As bad as the Chicago White Sox were last season, going 3-22 to start the season and 41-121 for the season -- setting a new AL record for losses in a season, and surpassing the 1962 Mets for the most since 1899 -- the Rockies have been even worse: They are 8-42, on a pace for 26-136 -- which would surpass the 1899 Cleveland Spiders for the most losses, if not quite the worst winning percentage, in major league history.
And the Yankees will be hitting in Coors Field, at altitude.
Then again, last year, the White Sox did win 1 of their 6 games against the Yankees, so, you never know.
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