The New York Yankees did not do much offensively last week and yet recorded a series win in a three-game set against the host Texas Rangers.
The Yankees, who battered the Baltimore Orioles in the past four games, hope to keep rolling at the plate Tuesday night when they host Texas in the opener of a three-game series.
The Yankees are 14-2 in their past 16 games, and two of those wins were in Texas, where they scored seven runs in a pair of close games.
New York is seeking its fifth straight win after scoring 39 runs against Baltimore. The Yankees totaled 47 hits, 24 walks and went 18-for-38 with runners in scoring position in the series.
“It’s been great,” New York starting pitcher Cam Schlittler said of New York’s offense. “We’ve been on a really good roll these last couple of series. It’s fun to see one through nine contributing, putting up great at-bats and driving runs in.”
New York concluded the Baltimore series with a 12-1 rout on Monday. Aaron Judge has 11 of his 14 homers this season during his past 21 games and hit a two-run blast in the first inning before adding a two-run single in a six-run eighth.
After the Yankees faced an opponent with a 4.96 ERA, they will face Texas’ Jacob deGrom (2-1, 2.01 ERA) for the second time in a week.
The right-hander took the loss against New York last Tuesday despite allowing one run on six hits in six innings in a 3-2 setback.
He yielded an RBI double to Cody Bellinger in the first inning after a single by Judge and held the Yankees hitless in the next 11 at-bats. The former Cy Young Award winner is 2-5 with a 2.97 ERA in nine career starts against the Yankees.
deGrom is part of a pitching staff with a 3.66 ERA, but the Rangers are hitting .235 and their 127 runs are the fewest in the American League.
Texas has dropped nine of its past 14 games and has scored more than five runs in only one of those contests. Texas also has scored fewer than three runs in that span seven times, including the final two games of its series in Detroit.
After earning a 5-4 victory on Friday, the Rangers went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position in the past two games.
Texas’ defense faltered in a 7-1 loss to the Tigers on Sunday night, including center fielder Evan Carter failing to finish a diving catch.
“We weren’t real fundamentally sound like we’re typically used to,” Texas manager Skip Schumaker said. “We had some really good plays. The outfield had some really good plays, there were some plays in the infield that were really good as well, but there were some plays that we’re used to making that we didn’t.”
While Corey Seager collected a hit in each of the games in Detroit, he is 4-for-27 in his past seven contests. Seager’s slump is coinciding with Josh Jung batting .378 during a 12-game hitting streak.
New York right-hander Elmer Rodriguez (0-1, 4.50 ERA), who is in the rotation until Carlos Rodon completes his rehab from left elbow surgery, will make his second career start. He debuted Wednesday afternoon in Texas and allowed two runs on four hits in four innings of a 3-0 loss.
–Field Level Media
