Rangers 6, Yankees 1 on a Wednesday night in the Bronx, and it didn't feel close. Will Warren handed Texas six runs in four innings -- new season highs in runs allowed and earned runs, his worst start of the year -- and Nathan Eovaldi took it from there, going eight innings on 101 pitches without issuing a single walk. The Yankees' five-game winning streak is done.
The Yankees had gone full "Will Warren Wednesday" energy before first pitch. Warren came in at 4-0 with a 2.39 ERA, the cleanest numbers in the rotation. Forty-thousand-plus fans packed the Stadium expecting more of the same. They got Eovaldi instead.
The Third Inning Killed It
Corey Seager put Texas up 1-0 in the first on a solo shot -- 350 feet to right on a 3-0 count -- and you could almost talk yourself into "just a mistake pitch." Then the third inning came along.
Brandon Nimmo walked. Ezequiel Duran doubled down the left-field line, scoring Nimmo. Two-nothing. Then Evan Carter turned on a Warren sweeper and drove it 368 feet to right, Duran scoring behind him, and suddenly the Stadium went quiet at 4-0. Three Rangers batters, three separate problems -- a walk, a double, a homer.
Warren got a fourth, which is debatable. Seager drove in McCutchen with a single to right to make it 6-0. (At some point the Yankees have to yank Warren when it's not his night, instead of letting a six-run inning pair with a six-run inning.) Four frames, seven hits, six earned runs, three walks, two homers. Everything Warren had avoided all season, compressed into 90 pitches.
Eovaldi's Night
Nathan Eovaldi has a 1.65 ERA in his last nine starts against the New York Yankees -- nine starts, 59.2 innings. He doesn't just beat them. He owns them.
Wednesday looked exactly like every other entry in that stretch. Zero walks, eight strikeouts, 101 pitches through eight. He induced ground ball after ground ball, mixed his four pitches with a confidence that said he already knew what he was going to throw before he knew the count. The only run he gave up was a Judge homer in the sixth, and he walked off the mound from it without so much as a glance at the outfield.
There isn't a great answer for Eovaldi right now. If there is, the Yankees haven't found it yet.
The One Good Swing
Down 6-0 in the sixth, Aaron Judge worked a 2-0 count and drove a splitter 399 feet to center at 110.0 miles per hour. League-leading 15th homer of the season.
The Stadium woke up briefly for that -- you couldn't help it. A 110-mph ball traveling 399 feet is physically impressive no matter the score. Judge finished 1-for-4 with two strikeouts, which is about as quietly as Judge can go.
The rest of the lineup -- Trent Grisham, Jasson Dominguez, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Paul Goldschmidt, Ryan McMahon, Jose Caballero -- went a combined 0-for-19 against Eovaldi and Jacob Latz. It was that kind of night.
Yerry De los Santos Had a Good Game
Not everything was grim. After Warren's exit, Yerry De los Santos threw 3.1 scoreless innings -- one hit, one walk, five strikeouts. (He's been quietly excellent in limited work this season, and Wednesday was his best outing yet.) Ryan Yarbrough added 1.2 more scoreless frames to close it out.
There's a version of the bullpen that's a real asset on this team. Wednesday just wasn't the night to appreciate it, with Eovaldi still throwing darts on the other side.
Game 3 Tomorrow Night
The series is tied 1-1, with a rubber game scheduled Thursday at the Stadium. The Yankees still own first place in the AL East. But Eovaldi just walked out of the Bronx with eight innings, one run, and zero walks -- and the Yankees didn't find an answer until there was nothing left to answer for.
Game 3's their shot. They'd better use it.
Jimmy writes the Bronx Pinstripes game recap after every Yankees game. Beat-reporter pacing, fan's heartbeat. He calls opposing players by last name and has no patience for dead-air innings.
