The New York Yankees (28-19) kicked off their series against the Texas Rangers (25-24) with a strong all-around performance, securing a 5-2 win on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.
Ben Rice gave the Yanks an early boost, crushing a solo homer into the upper deck in the second inning for his 10th of the year. He added a sacrifice fly in the fourth, helping New York jump out to a 2-0 lead. Aaron Judge continued his incredible season, blasting his 16th home run in the eighth, a short porch shot that drove in two and pushed his average to .403. Judge finished 2-for-4, while Rice went 2-for-3 with two RBI.
On the mound, Will Warren turned in another impressive start, setting a new career-high with 10 strikeouts over 5.2 scoreless innings. He scattered five hits and one walk while pitching into the sixth, where he ran into trouble after back-to-back bloops and a walk loaded the bases. With two outs, Warren struck out Marcus Semien before turning it over to Mark Leiter Jr., who got the Yankees out of the jam.
The bullpen kept Texas at bay until the ninth when Ian Hamilton gave up a two-run homer to Jonah Heim and a triple before Luke Weaver entered to notch the save. Devin Williams also pitched a clean inning with two strikeouts.
Anthony Volpe drove in a key insurance run with a two-out RBI single in the sixth.
The Yankees, 9-3 over their last 12 games, look to keep it rolling on Wednesday with Ryan Yarbrough on the hill against Jacob deGrom. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].