So far this year the Yankees have regularly teetered on a knife’s edge from game to game. They typically do enough to win a game but routinely give themselves enough opportunities to give it away. The late innings following a quotidian quality start from Cam Schlittler were typically dicey for the Yankee bullpen, but a couple heroic plays allowed them to stay a whisker’s lenth ahead of the Rangers. Schlittler outdueled the legendary Jacob deGrom to earn the win, and big insurance home runs from Austin
Wells and Aaron Judge proved essential to give New York a series win.
The Bomber bats arrived to the ballpark early in an opening half-inning which, but for a difference of a few feet, could have plated three runs but scored only one. A two-out walk to Aaron Judge (not so easy to get away with these days!) set the table for a wallscraping double by Cody Bellinger which missed clearing the right center fence by a few feet. Judge still scored without a play from first base. Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed with a deep drive to center, but a stupendous play from Evan Carter saved extra bases and ended the inning.
The Yankees’ gloves proved similarly available from the jump. Bellinger flagged down a tricky fly ball from leadoff man Brandon Nimmo, then Trent Grisham somersaulted forward to take a base hit from Josh Jung. Schlittler allowed a third hard-hit ball, this time a double to Corey Seager, before wriggling free on a strikeout.
The tone was set for excellent defense early, and both teams added to their own highlight reels. Texas’ Josh Smith sprawled out at second base to cut down a hustling Ryan McMahon to finish the second, then in the third left fielder Alejandro Osuna snagged a well-struck liner from Grisham. Grisham himself got back in the act in the home fourth, covering a ton of ground to catch a hard-hit Pederson smash off a hanging curveball from Schlittler.
The veteran deGrom settled into the contest after that iffy first inning, improving as the game went along. After retiring the heart of the Yankee lineup in order to close out the sixth inning, he received congratulatory handshakes from his teammates, but departed on the hook for the loss thanks to Schlittler’s brilliance. Cam issued a rare walk before closing out the fifth, then allowed a pair of runners to reach to start the sixth—including a second base on balls. That set the stage for his finest work of the night.
Schlittler started with a strikeout of the threatening Seager with a 98-mph fastball. Two pitches later, he induced an infield fly from Joc Pederson. Finally, he faced Jake Burger. Austin Wells successfully challenged a called ball, bringing the count from 2-0 to 1-1. That excellent challenge lowered the pressure on Schlittler, who needed just one more pitch to send Burger out for delivery on a pop to right.
That closed the line on yet another stellar performance from Schlittler, who picked up eight total strikeouts, scattering three hits and two walks. He threw 91 pitches in the effort and now has a 1.51 ERA. Folks, he is simply sensational.
His catcher isn’t half bad either. After making that great call to overturn a ball and help out his pitcher, he provided further aid by taking lefty reliever Jalen Beeks to the skies. Wells cranked a fastball out to right field for his third homer of the year, providing a crucial insurance run in the seventh inning.
The Rangers threatened again in the bottom half, but once again were turned away emptyhanded. Brent Headrick worked around a leadoff single and a dreaded-two out walk to the number-nine hitter, striking out Nimmo to strand a pair.
Texas came back in the bottom of the eighth with pitchforks in hand. Fernando Cruz allowed the first two men to reach in front of Pederson, who bucked his usual convention as a power hitter by dropping down a bunt. Cruz fielded the bunt before tumbling to the turf, then regained his bearings and fired a bouncing throw to McMahon at third, who fielded the peg for an absolutely stunning first out. What could have—and maybe should have—been a cataclysmic blunder was instead turned into a highlight-reel play.
Cruz sensed his moment from there, striking out Burger on a succession of nasty splitters. He then worked ahead of pinch-hitter Ezequiel Duran, and shut out his lights with one last split-finger to quell another Ranger rally.
In a game like this, one more run from the Bombers threatened to be backbreaking for Texas. What better to get it than with a comet from the captain? Judge greeted Cole Winn with a 112.7 mph, 424-foot home run to the second deck in left for his 12th home run of the season, giving the Yankees a 3-0 mandate. That final tack-on run would, perhaps unsurprisingly, prove indispensable in short order.
No one ever promised that the bottom of the ninth inning would be easy. David Bednar took over for the save, but an errant throw from McMahon immediately told the viewing audience that this frame would be a struggle. Habitual Yankee nuisance Danny Jansen made the error sting with a triple to belatedly put Texas on the scoreboard. Grisham landed awkwardly on his leg during the play, but stayed in the game after getting a look from the training staff.
After a line shot from Jung sailed into left to score Jansen, the Yankee lead was suddenly whittled down to a single tally. The tying run was in scoring position and the winning run was also aboard. Disaster once again loomed with Bednar on the mound. Needing to induce a roller, he delivered a 1-0 splitter to Seager. The two-time World Series MVP pounded it on the ground to Chisholm, who initiated the 4-6-3 double play that, at last, ended the night.
Everybody has permission to breathe again. The Yankees are 20-10 on the season.
Tomorrow promises to be a very exciting afternoon for the Yanks, as they go for the sweep deep in the heart of Texas. Top prospect Elmer Rodriguez is slated to make his MLB debut against veteran Nathan Eovaldi. First pitch for this circle-the-calendar affair comes at 2:35 PM on YES.
