ARLINGTON, Texas — The New York Yankees’ offensive struggles continued Tuesday night at Globe Life Field, squandering a gutsy performance from starter Will Warren and watching another late-inning collapse from Devin Williams hand the Texas Rangers a 2-0 victory.
The loss marked the Yankees’ fifth straight defeat, dropping them to 60-54 and leaving them clinging to the American League’s third wild-card spot. The Rangers, winners of their last seven home games, now trail New York by just half a game in the playoff race.
Warren delivers, offense disappears
Will Warren gave the Yankees exactly what they needed from the rotation — a strong, composed outing under pressure. The 26-year-old right-hander worked through consistent traffic to post five shutout innings, stranding runners in scoring position in four different frames.
Warren scattered three hits and three walks while striking out five. He maneuvered out of a major jam in the second inning after issuing back-to-back walks to open the frame. Texas went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position through the first four innings against him.
But the pitch count proved costly. Warren needed 98 pitches to complete those five innings, becoming the sixth consecutive Yankees starter to fall short of reaching the sixth.
“Last year I never really got my feet under me. This year I’ve built a routine,” Warren said recently of his improved consistency.
His effort went unrewarded, as the Yankees managed just two hits the entire night and never threatened to score.
Eovaldi dominates former team
Former Yankee Nathan Eovaldi turned in a dominant outing to shut down his old club. The Rangers ace blanked the Yankees over eight innings, allowing just one hit — a third-inning hustle double from Anthony Volpe.
Eovaldi struck out six without walking a batter and threw 98 pitches in the gem. He’s now allowed just two earned runs in his last six starts, lowering his ERA to 1.49.
Aaron Judge returned from the 10-day injured list but had no impact in the designated hitter role. He went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, both coming on Eovaldi’s signature splitter.
Williams struggles continue in crucial spot
Manager Aaron Boone’s decision to call on Devin Williams in the eighth inning of a scoreless game backfired for the second night in a row.
Just 24 hours after surrendering a game-tying homer to Joc Pederson, Williams entered with the score still 0-0. He retired the first batter before giving up a deep double to Adolis García that tipped off Jasson Dominguez’s glove near the warning track.
Things unraveled quickly from there. Williams walked Pederson on four pitches and Wyatt Langford on five more to load the bases. With David Bednar warming in the bullpen, Boone stuck with Williams to face lefty Rowdy Tellez.
The gamble proved costly. Tellez fouled off multiple pitches in a 10-pitch at-bat before lining a two-run single to center, the game’s only scoring play. It was the Rangers’ lone hit with runners in scoring position — they went just 1-for-16 in such chances.
Boone’s bullpen management under scrutiny
Boone had hinted before the game that roles in the bullpen were flexible, especially with Williams struggling of late. Despite Camilo Doval and Luke Weaver covering the sixth and seventh innings effectively, Boone turned again to Williams for the high-leverage eighth.
“Lefties have a .455 OPS against Bednar this season,” one statistical note observed — relevant with Bednar ready and Tellez due up.
Williams’ ERA jumped to 5.44 after the outing. The two-time National League Reliever of the Year has now allowed 26 earned runs in 43 innings this season. For context, he gave up 26 earned runs total from 2022 to 2024 — across 141 innings.
Bullpen bright spots overshadowed
The Yankees’ bullpen outside of Williams performed well.
Doval escaped a jam in the sixth after allowing back-to-back singles. Weaver recorded a key strikeout of Corey Seager with a runner on second to end the seventh.
Mark Leiter Jr., freshly activated from the injured list, got the final out of the eighth inning after Williams’ collapse.
Yankees’ playoff implications mount
The Yankees have now dropped 19 of their last 24 road games. They sit six games behind the AL East-leading Toronto Blue Jays and 3.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox.
Their grip on the final wild-card spot continues to loosen. A loss in Wednesday’s series finale would allow the Rangers to leapfrog them in the standings.
New York’s struggles have only deepened since the July 31 trade deadline, when the front office added three relievers — Bednar, Doval, and Jake Bird — in hopes of stabilizing the pitching staff. But with the offense in a prolonged slump and Williams faltering, the intended spark has yet to materialize.
Ryan McMahon’s ninth-inning single was the Yankees’ first hit since Volpe’s double six innings earlier. Pinch-hitter Giancarlo Stanton grounded into a double play to end the inning and extinguish any hopes of a comeback.
The Yankees have now scored just four runs in their last five games.
With the season slipping toward crisis, New York needs solutions fast. Their offense remains punchless, and late-inning leads are no longer safe. Another loss Wednesday could drop them out of the playoff picture entirely — and raise even more questions about Boone’s decision-making down the stretch.
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