Bullpen Falters Late, Texas Rangers Fall at Yankees
In a battle of aces, Nathan Eovaldi got the best of Gerrit Cole.
The New York Yankees, though, got the better of the Texas Rangers.
The Rangers bullpen imploded in the eighth inning, as the Yankees rallied for a 5-3 win Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.
The American League West-leading Rangers (47-30) went 3-3 on the road trip that started with 2-1 series win at the Chicago White Sox. Texas was in position to claim a series in the Bronx for the first time since 2017 after going into the eighth up 3-2.
The Yankees (43-25) scored three runs on four hits off Rangers relievers John King and Yerry Rodriguez. Harrison Bader had the big blow with a two-run double off Rodriguez.
Texas dropped to 45-7 when leading after seven innings.
The Rangers also left exactly 10 men on base for the third straight game in losing the series 2-1. Texas lost the last two games after winning the series opener Friday.
In a matchup of the clubs’ top pitchers, neither were particularly sharp early. The Rangers took a 3-0 lead against Cole after their first two innings.
Marcus Semien doubled to lead off the game and scored on Corey Seager’s single. Jonah Heim added a solo shot in the second – his 11th home run – and Leody Taveras’ double scored Ezequiel Duran.
The Yankees got to Eovaldi in the bottom of the second on DJ LeMahieu’s two-run double. But that was all Eovaldi would allow.
The right-hander went 5 2/3 innings, allowing those two runs on four hits and striking out five.
Rangers reliever Josh Sborz followed with 1 1/3 scoreless innings, running his overall scoreless streak to a career-high 15 1/3 innings. He came into the game with the longest active scoreless streak in the AL.
The Rangers chased Cole before the end of the fifth inning. The Yankees stud allowed a season-high nine hits in 4 2/3 innings, but limited the damage to three runs.
Cole left with runners on the corners with two outs but reliever Jimmy Cordero coaxed Heim into a weak groundout to end the frame.
The Rangers open an eight-game homestand Monday night against the Detroit Tigers. Andrew Heaney (5-4, 3.98) is pitching on extra rest for Texas, with Matthew Boyd (5-5, 5.37) going for Detroit. First pitch at Globe Life Field is set for 7:05 p.m.
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