The Yankees fell to the Texas Rangers, 2-0, in the second of their three-game series on Saturday night in Arlington.
Here are the takeaways…
– The hitting woes for the slumping Yankees continued as Nathan Eovaldi dominated with a shutout win, scattering just three hits and striking out eight on just 113 pitches.
Anthony Rizzo, Willie Calhoun and Isiah Kiner-Falefa were the only three to collect hits, two of which were infield hits. New York only advanced one base runner to second base all night and did not have a man reach base after Calhoun was stranded on second with one out in the fifth by Aaron Hicks and Jose Trevino with the game deadlocked.
Hicks went hitless, but had sharp contact on two occasions, including one 97.1 MPH off the bat for a 353-foot out in the 8th. The drive would have been a home run in four of 30 MLB parks, with one of those being Yankee Stadium.
Rizzo and DJ LeMahieu each struck out twice, and Gleyber Torres bounced into a double play.
– One mistake is all it takes sometimes to ruin a solid outing. And that was the case for Yanks starter Johnny Brito. Pitching around baserunners in the first and third, Brito cruised through 12 outs on an efficient 46 pitches. But his luck ran out in the bottom half of the fifth inning.
With no score on the board, Rangers designated hitter Robbie Grossman singled on a 0-2 changeup to left to start the inning. And that one mistake, a 1-0 changeup to Ezequiel Duran would travel 431 feet to center for a 2-0 lead that proved to be the difference for the home side.
Brito escaped the inning without further damage, to close with a final line of two runs on four hits with one walk and five strikeouts in five innings pitched on 59 pitches (43 strikes).
– On the day the Yankees announced an MRI revealed Aaron Judge had a mild strain at the top of his hip that may force the reigning AL MVP to the Injured List, another outfielder may beat the slugger to the IL.
Jake Bauers, in his debut for the club after being signed to a big league contract from Triple-A, made a spectacular diving catch in left field. Running full pelt, Bauers made a backhanded snag before sliding feet first into the wall. The catch would end the bottom of the first and strand a runner but also ended Bauers’ night with what the team called a right knee contusion.
– In addition to Bauers’ great effort, the Yanks made several fine defensive plays Saturday. With the infield in and runners on second and third, shortstop Anthony Volpe made a great stop and throw home to nail a runner at the plate. Hicks would end the threat that inning with a leaping leaping grab in left-center to strand a pair.
– Ron Marinaccio (two walks and two strikeouts) and Ian Hamilton (one hit) each managed a scoreless inning of relief. Wandy Peralta pitched a clean eighth on just 11 pitches.
Highlights
What’s next
The Yankees look to get something from the third game of the series with Nestor Cortes (3-1, 3.49 ERA) going against fellow left-hander Martin Perez (3-1, 2.60 ERA).