ARLINGTON, Texas — The New York Yankees bounced back from Sunday’s loss and kept their road trip rolling in a big way Monday night.
Max Fried shut down the Rangers for six innings. Ben Rice and Aaron Judge went back-to-back for the first time this season. Jazz Chisholm Jr. joined the home run parade an inning later. The Yankees beat Texas 4-2 at Globe Life Field to improve to 19-10 and win nine of their last 10 games.
It was the Yankees’ seventh game this season with at least three home runs in the first 29 games played. The offense looked every bit as dangerous as it has all month.
Rice and Judge make franchise history
The big Yankees moment came in the third inning. Trent Grisham legged out a two-out infield single. Rice stepped in against Jack Leiter and crushed a first-pitch fastball 404 feet the other way, a two-run shot that landed in the visiting bullpen beyond the left-field fence.
Rice reached double digits in home runs for the first time this season. It was his sixth home run for the baby bomber in the past 11 games. The opposite-field power drew immediate praise.
Judge followed Rice to the plate and one-upped him immediately. The Yankees captainworked a full count against Leiter and then drove a curveball 414 feet at 113 mph into left field. The shot landed in almost the exact spot where his record-setting 62nd home run had landed at this park in 2022. The crowd at Globe Life Field went quiet. The Yankees dugout did the opposite.
The back-to-back blast made history. Rice and Judge became only the second pair of Yankees teammates to each reach 10 home runs in the team’s first 29 games of a season. The first pair was Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle in 1956. That context landed quickly in the clubhouse.
Asked about watching the two sluggers go back-to-back, the Yankees ace said what most of the dugout was probably thinking. His answer framed just how dangerous this lineup has become.
“I’m glad I don’t have to face them, let’s just put it that way,” Fried said. “Those are two of the best hitters in the game.”
Yankees skipper Aaron Boone was equally impressed, particularly with Rice’s opposite-field blast in a ballpark not known for giving up long home runs.
“Man, his ball was pummeled,” the Yankees manager said. “This is a ballpark, they’ll tell you, it doesn’t yield a lot of home runs. To hit a line drive into the bullpen the other way, impressive. The only thing more impressive was the breaking ball that Judgey rifled into the seats right after him. That was a little bit of a, ‘Hold my beer’ moment.”
Rice revealed that Judge joked in the dugout after returning from his homer. The three-time MVP told his Yankees teammate he was not going to let Rice catch him in home runs.
“So just trying to keep him honest, keep him motivated,” Rice said with a grin. “He’s getting a little complacent, so.”
Chisholm joins the home run parade
The homers did not stop with Rice and Judge. Leading off the fourth inning, Jazz Chisholm lifted a first-pitch slider 406 feet into the right-field seats at 106.7 mph. It gave the Yankees a 4-0 lead and capped a dominant offensive inning against Leiter.
It was Chisholm’s third home run in five games. The Yankees infielder had not gone deep at all in his first 23 games this season. Over the past seven games, he is hitting .370 with a 1.118 OPS. The turnaround has been dramatic.
Fried delivers fourth scoreless start
While the Yankees offense handled Leiter, Fried was equally sharp. He worked six innings, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out five. He did not give up a run. It was his fourth scoreless outing in seven starts this season. The Yankees ace improved to 4-1 on the year.
Max Fried also recorded the 38th pickoff of his career, the most by any pitcher in baseball since 2017. He picked off Josh Jung in the fourth inning. It marked the fourth consecutive Yankees starter to record a pickoff, something that has happened only one other time in franchise history.
Fried was asked about the pickoff sequence and the team’s emphasis on controlling the running game. He said the work done in spring training was paying off.
“We worked really hard on it in spring training and we’ve been executing well so far,” the Yankees pitcher said. “Really proud of them and I know they’ve been taking it very seriously.”
Bullpen holds on for the win
The Yankees’ bullpen made things interesting. Camilo Doval gave up a pinch-hit homer to Joc Pederson in the seventh. Tim Hill ran into trouble in the eighth, loading the bases with Corey Seager at the plate. Seager grounded out to end the threat.
David Bednar navigated a messy ninth. A Chisholm error and a single loaded the bases with two outs. Bednar induced a groundout to short, with Caballero throwing to second for the final out. It was Bednar’s eighth Yankees save of the season.
Judge finished with three hits and reached base all four times he batted. Over his past 15 games, he is batting .294 with eight home runs, 12 RBI and a remarkable 1.298 OPS.
The Yankees are now 19-10 overall and 6-1 on their current nine-game road trip, further tightening their grip on the AL East.
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