ARLINGTON, Texas — The Yankees needed a highlight-reel catch in the first inning. This was followed by a stumbling, sliding, rear-end throw in the eighth. Their captain to go deep for 424-ft in the ninth. But all those were counted only after one final out with the tying run on base.
Then did the Yankees exhale.
New York escaped Globe Life Field on Tuesday night with a 3-2 victory over the Texas Rangers, improving to 20-10 on the season and winning for the 10th time in their past 11 games. The Yankees win also secured back-to-back series victories, after the Yankees took two of three in Houston and now hold two of the first two against the Rangers.
A pitching duel for the ages
For six innings, this game belonged to two right-handers and two right-handers alone. Cam Schlittler and Jacob deGrom treated Globe Life Field to a rare showcase of elite starting pitching, with a 1-0 score serving as the only evidence runs were being scored at all.
Schlittler was electric. The 25-year-old Yankees starter threw six shutout innings, scattering three hits and two walks while striking out eight. He threw 64 of his 92 pitches for strikes, struck out Corey Seager twice, and finished the night with 49 strikeouts and a 1.51 ERA across 41 and two-thirds innings pitched in 2026. It was his fourth start of the season without allowing a single earned run.
Facing a future Hall of Famer in deGrom made the performance land with even more weight. Manager Aaron Boone recognized the moment for what it was.
“Two big, tall, lanky power-pitching righties. Obviously runs were tough to come by.”
DeGrom, pitching at age 37 and carrying a 2.01 ERA heading into the night, held the Yankees to one run on three hits across six innings. He struck out five, walked none, and saw Texas suffer its first loss in his six starts this season. The Yankees managed just enough against a two-time Cy Young Award winner who still commands the top of any opponent’s scouting report.
Aaron Judge was asked afterward to put Schlittler’s performance in context after watching him go toe-to-toe with one of the greatest pitchers of the past decade.
“[Schlittler was] going up against a future Hall of Famer like that and going toe-to-toe with him, it was impressive.”
How the Yankees scored their three runs
The Yankees broke through in the first inning when Cody Bellinger roped an RBI double off the top of the right-center field fence, scoring Judge, who had singled on a two-strike pitch moments earlier. That 1-0 lead held through the first six frames.
After the starters departed, the Yankees extended their cushion. Wells came to bat in the seventh against Rangers lefty Jalen Beeks and drove a fastball out to right field for a solo home run, his third of the year, to push the Yankees in front 2-0. Then, in the top of the ninth, Judge launched a 424-foot shot off Cole Winn into the second deck in left field.
The blast, clocked at 112.7 mph off the bat, was his 12th homer of the season and his third in three consecutive games. It also tied Chicago White Sox rookie Munetaka Murakami for the major league lead. Judge’s blow proved to be the winning run.
Defense saves the Yankees twice in late innings
The Yankees did not just win with bats and arms Tuesday. Their gloves played an equally vital role, starting in the very first inning and carrying through to the final out.
With the Yankees nursing a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, Bellinger tracked down a fly ball at the warning track in left field off the bat of Brandon Nimmo, then Trent Grisham somersaulted forward to snare a sinking liner from Josh Jung.
Schlittler allowed a hard double to Seager right after but escaped further trouble. The defensive intensity held throughout the game.
Then came the play of the night. In the eighth inning, with the Yankees protecting a 2-0 lead, Rangers ace Joc Pederson laid down a bunt. Reliever Fernando Cruz fielded the ball while tumbling to the ground, regained his bearings and fired a bouncing throw from his back end to third base. Ryan McMahon scooped it cleanly for the force out, a play that left both dugouts stunned.
Cruz was asked to describe what was going through his mind when he hit the ground with the ball in his hand.
“All I knew in my mind was I’m gonna do or die there.”
Cruz then struck out the next two batters to end the inning, keeping the Yankees in front heading into the ninth.
Bednar survives chaos in the ninth
David Bednar took the ball for the save but quickly found himself in the middle of a Rangers rally that threatened to erase the Yankees’ hard-earned lead. A McMahon throwing error with one out put a runner on, and Danny Jansen followed with a rocket triple into the gap that cut the Yankees lead to 3-1. Grisham slammed into the outfield fence going after the ball but stayed in the game after a check from the training staff. A hit batter and a single from Josh Jung later, it was 3-2 with runners on and Bednar staring down the lineup.
With the tying run on second and the winning run on first, Bednar needed one out. He got it on a 1-0 splitter to two-time World Series champion Corey Seager, who pounded it into the ground. Jazz Chisholm fielded it and started a 4-6-3 double play that ended the threat and sealed the win.
The Yankees had also won this game with their character. Fernando Cruz summed up what Schlittler means to this group, putting a simple two-word label on what the 25-year-old right-hander is becoming in the Yankees rotation.
“Superstar. What he’s doing is really impressive. Throwing three pitches at one speed, but different directions, it’s something you don’t see too often in baseball. Right now he’s one of the best to step on the field.”
Judge, who was asked to tie everything together after the game, pointed to the full-game effort as the reason the Yankees keep winning close games.
“Incredible defense all around out of those two, and then even the double play to end the game.”
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