Yankees Doubleheader: Rodon Keeps Rolling; Texas Earns Split

 

Aaron Judge racing to the plate to score on Austin Wells’ two-run double (that’s Juan Soto to the far right after he scored) in the third inning of Game 1. Photo by Jason Schott.

The Yankees had their second doubleheader in four days at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, as they took on the defending World Champion Texas Rangers.

In the first game, the Yankees got a superb outing from Carlos Rodon as they shutout Texas, 8-0, and the Rangers returned the favor in the second game, as they ran away with it late, 9-4.

At the end of the day, the Yankees are 69-49, one game behind the Baltimore Orioles (70-48), who have won two at Tampa Bay this weekend, in the American League East. Texas is now 55-62, 9 1/2 games behind the Kansas City Royals for the final Wild Card spot.

MILITARY APPRECIATION DAY: It was also the annual Military Appreciation Day at Yankee Stadium, and the US Army Herald Trumpets performed the National Anthem before the first pitch of the Game 1 of the doubleheader.

The US Army Herald Trumpets performed behind home plate. Photo by Jason Schott.

Prior to that, the soldiers were stationed in front of the visiting dugout. Photo by Jason Schott.

GAME 1: YANKEES 8, RANGERS 0: Carlos Rodin got the start for the Yankees in this one, looking to continue his superb pitching, in which he won his first three starts since the All-Star break.

Yankees Manager Aaron Boone, in his pregame press conference Saturday morning, said of what’s worked for Rodon lately, “I think the strike throwing’s been really good, I think his fastball’s been excellent, you know, getting into spots, life there, and then the mix with it, really being committed to his four-pitch mix. That’s all played a role for him, but I think it started with his fastball getting into good spots, you know, for the most part, doing a good job of gaining leverage from the count standpoint. He’s done a better job in that regard, and he’s just going really well right now.”

Rodon opened the game with a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the first, and the Yankees gave him a quick lead against Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi in the bottom half of the frame. 

Juan Soto got a one-out single before Aaron Judge muscled a single into center field to conclude a nine-pitch at-bat. 

Aaron Judge and Nathan Eovaldi react to Aaron Judge’s first inning hit. Photo by Jason Schott.

Then, Gleyber Torres got a two-out single to bring in Soto and make it 1-0.

Rodon ran into some trouble in the top of the second, as he gave up a single and walked two, but he got Jonah Heim to fly out to left field to end the inning. Texas got two runners on in the third, but once again, Rodon got out of it with a strikeout of Wyatt Langford to get out of it.

Austin Wells is ready to run off the field, as Wyatt Langford tosses his bat after looking at strike 3. Photo by Jason Schott.

The Yankees then went to work against Eovaldi in the bottom of the third. Soto started it off with a walk, followed by a single from Judge, and they came in to score on a double from Austin Wells. 

Jazz Chisholm Jr. laced a single to right field, in which he raced to second base as the throw went to the plate. Even though they had runners at second and third with one out, Eovaldi struck out the next two to keep it a 3-0 Yankees lead.

That would be all for Eovaldi, whose final line was: 3 innings, 6 hits, 3 runs (all earned), 2 walks, 4 strikeouts.

Brock Burke came on for Texas in the fourth, and the Yankees pounced. Aaron Judge got an RBI double, and Wells had a two-run single to make it a 6-0 Yankees lead. 

Rodon kept on rolling, and he threw 5 2/3 shutout innings, in which he scattered just two hits and five walks, with six strikeouts. 

“Five walks is never great, but I’ll take the five zeroes and I’ll take the win,” said Rodon afterwards.

Boone says of Rodon’s performance, “He made a ton of good pitches when he needed to, and you know, to get us two outs into the sixth to start there and hold us off the scoreboard, another strong outing for Carlos.”

The left-hander is now the fourth pitcher in the American League to earn his 13th win of the season, and he lowered his earned run average (ERA) to 4.18. The three other A.L. pitchers with 13 wins are Kansas City’s Seth Lugo, Baltimore’s Grayson Rodriguez, and Detroit’s Tyler Skubal.

Carlos Rodon reacts after striking Corey Seager in the third inning. Photo by Jason Schott.

Chisholm capped off the game with a solo home run, his 19th of the season, in the eighth inning, that made it 8-0. 

GAME 2: RANGERS 9, YANKEES 4: Gerrit Cole got the start for the Yankees in the nightcap, and he had a superb outing, as he went 5 1/3 innings, and allowed just one run (on an Adolis Garcia RBI single in the fourth) on six hits and two walks, with 10 strikeouts. 

Gerrit Cole striking out Josh Smith in the third inning. Photo by Jason Schott.

With the score tied at 1 and one out in the sixth inning, Cole was pulled for Luke Weaver.

This was a perfect example of a team being thrilled to see someone else on that mound, as Nathaniel Lowe and Garcia greeted him with singles, and then Leody Tavares lined one to right field that Juan Soto could not hold into as he slid to try to catch it.

That loaded the bases, and Carson Kelly then drew a walk to force in a run, and Josh Smith hit a sacrifice fly to center field to make it 3-1.

Corey Seager was up next, and he hit the big blow of the inning, a three-run shot that made it 6-1 and chased Weaver from the game. Boone heard the boos as he headed to and from the mound pulling Weaver.

Corey Seager approaches the plate on his three-run home run. Photo by Jason Schott.

Rangers Manager Bruce Bochy greets his players at the dugout after Seager’s homer.

Michael Tonkin was on next for the Yankees, and while he got Marcus Semien to ground out to end the sixth, they rallied against him in the seventh. 

After he got the first two outs, Lowe and Garcia singled before Tavares got a two-run double, and he came in to score on a single by Kelly that made it 9-1 Texas.

Cody Bradford got the win for Texas to improve to 4-0, as he went five innings, and allowed one run on five hits and no walks, with seven strikeouts.

The Yankees' late runs came in the eighth inningn when Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run shot, his 19th home run of the season, and Chisholm hit a solo shot, his 20th homer, and that made it 9-4.

Boone was asked after the game about the decision to pull Cole right when he hit 90 pitches, and he said, "We were going to be pretty strict with 90 today, with what he's been through," Boone said referring to his recent issue with fatigue that kept him out of a start on July 30. "Encouraging to see how he threw the ball the way he did today, again, just a rough rest of the inning there...

"I think it's just been the last week, you know, as he's kind of gone through this, just making sure, you know, obviously, I thought he threw the ball outstanding so feel like we're building some good steam going forward."