ARLINGTON, Texas — It was the debut game for Elmer Rodriguez, who carried his hype to the mound. The Yankees had already won the series. All thewy needed Wednesday was a clean finish.
Instead, Nathan Eovaldi reminded them of the one hitter they still cannot figure out.
Eovaldi threw seven shutout innings and allowed the Yankees just four singles and one walk. The Rangers won 3-0. The Yankees finished the road trip 7-2 and flew home Thursday. But the final image was not what they wanted.
Eovaldi owns the Yankees, again
The Yankees knew what they were getting into. Eovaldi has been one of the most reliable right-handers in baseball against them since leaving New York after the 2018 season. Going into Wednesday, he carried a 1.58 ERA across seven career starts against his former team dating to 2023.
The Yankees could not change that number Wednesday. Eovaldi worked efficiently through seven innings, striking out five and allowing no extra-base hits. It was only the second time this season the Yankees had been shut out. It was only the third time the Yankees went through a full game without recording an extra-base hit.
Manager Aaron Boone had watched Eovaldi do this before. Many times. He acknowledged after the game that the Rangers ace simply had his best stuff working when the Yankees needed to find a way through.
“Obviously he hasn’t got off to a typical Nate start, but today looked very typical Nate,” Boone said. “We’ve seen that a lot from him.”
The Yankees entered Wednesday with a majors-best 48 home runs. Eovaldi neutralized every threat. He threw 70 of 102 pitches for strikes and struck out seven, one more than the source material noted. Trent Grisham struck out swinging to lead off the game. Aaron Judge grounded out in the first, then struck out swinging later. Cody Bellinger struck out looking in the first and lined into an inning-ending double play in the third, with Ben Rice thrown out at first to kill another rally. Rice had singled to right for one of the Yankees’ four hits, but never scored.
The Yankees stranded runners in scoring position in multiple innings. Cody Bellinger, JC Escarra and Ryan McMahon were all left on base with two outs at various points. None of them scored. The Yankees went the entire game without an extra-base hit, only the third time that had happened all season. The frustration was visible. Jazz Chisholm Jr. slammed his helmet against the dugout bench after flying out in the ninth inning, a rare public display of anger from a lineup that had dominated pitching staffs throughout the road trip.
Boone also addressed the broader picture of an otherwise successful trip being spoiled at the end. There was no sense of crisis in his tone. Just honest acknowledgment.
“You always feel like you want to finish everything off and make it really great into an off day,” Boone said. “But Eovaldi beat us today and they were able to scratch a few runs together. We just couldn’t mount enough today.”
Rodriguez walks four in debut, but shows promise
The Yankees sent 22-year-old Elmer Rodriguez to the mound for his MLB debut. It was his moment. His parents, his brother and a cousin had flown in from Puerto Rico to watch.
Rodriguez did not disgrace himself. But he was not sharp. He walked four batters across four-plus innings. He hit one. He scattered four hits. Of his 80 pitches, only 42 were strikes. In four Triple-A starts this year, he had walked just seven batters across 21 and a third innings. On Wednesday, he reached that number in one outing.
The two runs he allowed came in the fifth inning and arrived in predictable fashion. He hit Alejandro Osuna with a 95 mph fastball. He then walked Ezequiel Duran. Brandon Nimmo hit a one-hopper that glanced off Ben Rice’s glove at first base. The bases were loaded. Josh Jung roped a two-run single through the left side to make it 2-0, and Rodriguez’s night was effectively over.
He talked afterward with the honesty of a pitcher who knows exactly what went wrong.
“I felt like I was competing,” Rodriguez said. “I felt like I could have executed a little bit better. Just missing a lot of pitches, so trying to move forward from that, work on that and try to be better.”
Rodriguez had his moments. He recorded his first career strikeout on a 97 mph sinker to Jung that was part of a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play. He then retired seven straight batters at one point. Boone saw enough to remain encouraged.
“I thought his stuff was good,” Boone said. “Obviously strike throwing wasn’t as sharp as it’s going to be with him and typically is. But a lot of good out there. You saw his stuff play. I thought his mix of two-seam and four-seam and spinning it a little bit was good. Just a little better on the strike-throwing part and it’s a different line. But still kept us in the game and gave us a chance.”
Rodriguez will get at least one or two more starts before Carlos Rodon returns from the injured list. Wednesday’s debut was a learning experience. That was always the likeliest outcome.
Dominguez exits with elbow concern
The loss became more complicated when Jasson Dominguez left the game after being struck by a pitch on the left elbow. The Yankees said X-rays taken at the stadium were inconclusive. He was scheduled for a CT scan in New York on Thursday.
The team described the injury as a left elbow contusion. But the wording and the need for further imaging suggested the situation warranted more attention.
The Rangers scored their third run in the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly, pushing the final to 3-0 and closing out a game the Yankees never found traction in. The Yankees are 20-11 and head home with a 7-2 road trip record, despite Wednesday’s stumble.
A four-game home series against the Baltimore Orioles begins Friday. Boone kept his perspective despite the ugly finale.
“Feel like we’re in a good place, we’re playing well,” Boone said. “We’ll enjoy this off day and then start a big series with the Orioles Friday.”
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