New York Yankees 3, Texas Rangers 1
ARLINGTON, Texas — Luis Severino‘s performance in the New York Yankees’ most encouraging final start before the playoffs was nearly flawless. At the same time, New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge has just three more games left to try and hit his 62nd home run.
In only his third start since missing two months with strained right lat, Yankees’ Severino faced the minimum 21 batters and walked one while pitching seven no-hit innings. The Texas Rangers finally got a hit against the New York bullpen in the Yankees’ 3-1 win on Monday night.
Aaron Judge has gone four games without hitting a home run, and the only one he has hit in the last 12 was home run number 61, which he hit on Wednesday in Toronto to tie Roger Maris’s record for the American League. In the game against Texas, he went 1 for 4 with an infield single. Since then, he is 2 for 12 with five walks and one hit by pitch.
Before the regular season comes to a close on Wednesday, Tuesday will feature a day-night doubleheader between the Yankees and the Rangers.
After the game, manager Aaron Boone stated that he had not yet had a conversation with Judge about whether or not he would play in both games scheduled for Tuesday.
Boone commented, “I’m going to talk to him and find out what he prefers.”
Severino and Boone only heard Boone’s side of the conversation (7-3). The manager had no intention of pressuring him in any way.
Severino expressed his desire to continue pitching and stated that he was “1,000%” confident that he could have completed the no-hitter. But he grasped the reasoning behind Boone’s refusal to give in.
It is possible for Judge to become the first player in the American League since Miguel Cabrera of Detroit in 2012 to capture the Triple Crown. He is currently in first place in the AL with 130 RBI, although his batting average is .311 points behind that of Minnesota’s Luis Arraez .315.
Many of the 35,906 people in the crowd wore Yankees jerseys and chanted “M-V-P!, M-V-P!” when Judge batted. His hit came on a checked-swing to start the sixth, after he had been jammed, grounded out, struck out, and hit a ball into a double play.
Severino (7-3), making his third start after being out for two months with a right lat strain, struck out seven batters and walked one. With a 3-0 lead, manager Aaron Boone talked to Severino in the dugout after the seventh inning and told him that his night was over. Severino, who had thrown 63 strikes out of 94 pitches, tried to convince Boone to let him keep pitching.
Severino, who is competing for a spot in the playoff rotation, threw 47 fastballs at an average velocity of 97.9 mph and had a maximum velocity of 100.3 mph. He used 17 changeups, 16 sliders, 11 sinkers, and 3 cutters in his pitching repertoire.
The only runner that Texas managed to get past him was Josh Smith, who reached base thanks to a walk in the third inning but was then erased when the No. 9 batter Bubba Thompson grounded into a double play that ended the inning.
Adolis Garcia was out on first strike when the eighth inning began thanks to Castro, who made his first appearance since July 10 after recuperating from a shoulder strain. Josh Jung, a rookie third baseman who is batting just .195, lined a single over Isiah Kiner-Falefa, the team’s shortstop. After that, Jonah Heim hit another quality single, and then Kole Calhoun drove in a run with a groundout.
Giancarlo Stanton and Marwin Gonzalez each hit a home run in the eighth inning off of the just-in reliever Jonathan Hernandez. Stanton drove the ball 457 feet, bringing his career total of home runs to 30 for the seventh time.
The Yankees‘ third save of the season was recorded by Scott Effross, who pitched the ninth inning.
Martin Pérez (12-8) gave up five hits and five walks in six innings, but only one run. Behind the All-Star left-hander, the Rangers turned five of their club-record six double plays.
Globe Life Field had its roof open. The New York Yankees had only played there once before, in a four-game series last year. In 14 at-bats and one walk, Judge didn’t hit a home run. But the power hitter did hit the last home run in the Rangers’ old stadium across the street when the Yankees played there for the last time in 2019.
The first game in the four-game series was both teams’ 159th game of the season. It was supposed to be the first game of the season six months ago, but the 99-day MLB offseason lockout pushed back spring training and the first week of the regular season.
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The Yankees will send out right-handed pitcher Jameson Taillon (14-5, 3.83 ERA) to start the game, and right-handed pitcher Gerrit Cole (13-7, 3.51) will pitch the game’s last inning.
Was the Yankees’ win convincing? Comment what you think.
