Anyone who has watched any amount of 2025 Yankees baseball is familiar with shoddy defense. Believe it or not, this iteration of the team did not invent the concept. 25 years ago today, the Yanks kicked the ball around the infield early and spotted their opponent an early multi-run lead.
But you can’t hold a good team down. The offense roared to life in the middle innings to seize the lead. Starter Andy Pettitte held the Rangers down just enough and, needing three final outs, the Yankees turned to the usual
suspect to nail down a comeback win that was likely both infuriating and thrilling to watch in person.
August 24: Yankees 8, Rangers 7 (box score)
Record: 70-54, .565 (3 GA)
The bad defense started right away. With a man on first, usual catcher-turned-first baseman Jorge Posada booted a ball, putting runners on first and second with one out. A single and a groundout scored two runs and, before you could grab an overpriced Stadium beer and find your seat, the Yankees trailed 2-0.
In the home second, the Yanks got one back. Posada singled, the first of many times he was on base against the Rangers. Later in the frame, Clay Bellinger drove Jorge in with a sacrifice fly, cutting the deficit in half.
Unfortunately, sloppy defense reared its head again in the next half inning. With the bases loaded, Pettitte faced former Yankee Ricky Ledée. Ledée hit a ground ball that should have at least been one out. Instead, the Yanks kicked it around and two more Rangers crossed home plate, putting New York down 4-1.
Wasting no time, the offense roared to life in the bottom of the third. The first five Yankees all reached base. Posada, the last in that line, drove in the third run of the inning to that point, knotting the game at four apiece. Three batters later, Bellinger drove in his second run of the day. José Vizcaino followed with an RBI groundout. In rather short order, a 4-1 deficit was a 6-4 lead. You love to see it.
The Rangers got one back in the top of the fourth. But in the bottom half, Glenallen Hill put the punctuation mark on the Yankees’ offensive outburst. Hill absolutely demolished a ball to center field for a two-run bomb, his 12th as a Yankee and 23rd of the season.
In the top of the seventh, Texas scored two more runs, officially putting this one into white knuckle territory. However, the bullpen managed to escape without further damage and retired the Rangers in the eighth. Needing only three outs to lock down the win, everyone and their dog knew what was next.
Future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera trotted out of the bullpen and, despite putting the tying run on base, managed to seal the victory, New York’s 70th of the season.
It was a needed win, one that kept the Yanks three games up on the second-place Boston Red Sox as September quickly approached. Equally important, the Yankees were about to head West and face the Oakland Athletics. As Yankee fans of a certain vintage can recall, those West Coast trips often turned into houses of horrors.
