NEW YORK — On the surface, it merely was a split doubleheader on a long, cold, windy Sunday in early May.
But Rangers manager Chris Woodward managed to make it a memorable day at Yankee Stadium with a remark that will not soon be forgotten by Yankees fans.
After Gleyber Torres led off the ninth inning of Game 1 with a walk-off home run to rightfield for a 2-1 victory, Woodward said between games that Torres’ shot would have been “an easy out in 99% of ballparks.”
Woodward then added, “He just happened to hit it in a Little League ballpark to rightfield.”
Actually, Torres’ 369-foot shot would have been a home run in 26 of the 30 major league stadiums. (It also went 14 feet farther than Kole Calhoun's tying home run off Gerrit Cole in the seventh inning.)
The Rangers bounced back to win Game 2, 4-2, but in the third inning, Woodward presumably was more impressed when Giancarlo Stanton walloped a 461-foot two-run homer into the Rangers' bullpen despite a stiff wind blowing straight in to give the Yankees an early 2-0 lead.
But Woodward got the last laugh when pinch hitter Brad Miller’s two-out, two-run home run into the Yankees' bullpen in the seventh salvaged the split for Texas (11-15).
The split left the Yankees with a 19-8 record.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone began the day with a greeting for reporters: “You guys have a good All-Star break?” he asked.
That was a joke. It only felt that way.
The Yankees had not played since Wednesday, which was followed by an off day and two days of rain, complicating their pitching rotation and leaving them with a busy schedule over the next three weeks.
Game 1 featured a strong — and long — start from Cole, who threw a season-high 114 pitches in 6 1/3 innings, striking out 10, before Calhoun got to him with a home run just inside the rightfield foul pole that tied the score at 1-1.
As pleased as he was with the victory, Cole still was lamenting the mistake he met with reporters between games.
“I got beat,” said Cole, who recalled battles with Calhoun dating to their Pac-12 days, when Cole pitched for UCLA and Calhoun was at Arizona State.
Rather than call it a day after throwing 105 pitches through six innings, Cole told Boone he was good to go for the seventh, mindful of the fact that the team was facing a doubleheader Sunday and 23 games in 22 days.
Boone said with Cole in “cruise mode” in the sixth, he was willing to give him the ball in the seventh.
Torres’ shot came on a 3-and-1 pitch from John King and marked his first walk-off home run since May 6, 2018. His seven walk-off hits since 2018 lead the major leagues.
Entering Game 2, Torres was hitting .317 with 11 RBIs and three home runs in his past 13 games.
“We’ve seen him time and again, whether it's in playoff situations, biggest situations, he does ratchet up that concentration level a bit,” Boone said.
“Cold day out there. It was good to see him stick one. That just happened quick. You're thinking of all the possibilities there [in case of extra innings] and he ends it real quick. That was nice.”
The Rangers struck out 14 times and made three errors in Game 1.
The Yankees took the lead in the sixth on an infield single by Aaron Judge, a single by Anthony Rizzo that moved Judge to third and a sacrifice fly by Stanton. He smoked the ball, but because of the strong wind, he had to settle for the out and RBI.
The Yankees had a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the seventh when they put runners on second and third with one out, but Aaron Hicks struck out and Judge flied out to center.
In Game 2, Stanton’s home run off Glenn Otto gave the Yankees an early lead. Eli White’s 342-foot solo home run off Jordan Montgomery cut the lead to 2-1 in the sixth. It would have been out of almost every big league ballpark.
The Rangers tied it at 2 in the seventh when Jonah Heim scored on a two-out wild pitch by Michael King. Then Miller hit a two-run homer to make it 4-2. King had allowed one earned run I 17 2/3 innings this season entering Sunday.
Judge flied out with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh.
The Rangers and Yankees will make up Saturday’s rainout on Monday afternoon.
Aaron Boone began a long, cold Sunday in the Bronx with a greeting for reporters: “You guys have a good All-Star break?” the Yankees manager asked.
That was a joke. It only felt that way.
The Yankees had not played since Wednesday, followed by an off day and two days of rain, complicating their pitching rotation and leaving them with a busy schedule over the next three weeks.
But the wait was worth it in Game 1, which ended with a walk-off home run to rightfield by Gleyber Torres leading off the ninth inning to give the Yankees a 2-1 victory.
It was their 12th victory in 13 games and improved their record to 19-7 after a 5-5 start.
The game also featured a strong — and long — start from Gerrit Cole, who threw a season-high 114 pitches in 6 1/3 innings, striking out 10, before Kole Calhoun got to him with a home run to rightfield that tied the score at 1-1.
As pleased as he was with the victory, Cole still was lamenting the mistake he met with reporters between games.
“I got beat,” said Cole, who recalled battles with Calhoun dating to their Pac-12 days, when Cole pitched for UCLA and Calhoun was at Arizona State.
Rather than call it a day after throwing 105 pitches through six innings, Cole told Boone he was good to go for the seventh, mindful of the fact that the team was facing a doubleheader Sunday and 23 games in 22 days.
Boone said with Cole in “cruise mode” in the sixth, he was willing to give him the ball in the seventh
“Definitely debated it, but just felt like he was so sound and he wanted the ball, so I was comfortable with it,” Boone said.
Said Cole, “I know we have a doubleheader today. “I just want to let him know, like, ‘Hey, man, I'm good.’”
Torres’ shot came on a 3-and-1 pitch from John King, and marked his first walk-off home run since May 6, 2018. His seven walk-off hits since 2018 lead the major leagues.
Entering Game 2, Torres was hitting .317 with 11 RBIs and three home runs in his past 13 games.
“We’ve seen him time and again, whether it's in playoff situations, biggest situations, he does ratchet up that concentration level a bit,” Boone said.
“Cold day out there. It was good to see him stick one. That just happened quick. You're thinking of all the possibilities there (in case of extra innings) and he ends it real quick. That was nice.”
Asked about Torres’ ability to hit the ball deep the other way, Boone said, “I feel like he always tries to kind of work it that way. Sometimes I think he forces it over there, but there's no question when he's working the middle of the field, other way, he's got that ability.”
Boone added, “I feel like he's been in a pretty good spot here and obviously come up in a lot of big situations for us and come through in the clutch. It's great to see and love where his mindset is right now.”
The Rangers (10-15) struck out 14 times and made three errors, plus botched a double play that did not technically count as an error.
The Yankees did not have a hit through five innings off Dane Dunning, whom Cole said he never has seen look so sharp.
The Yankees took the lead in the sixth on an infield single by Aaron Judge, a single by Anthony Rizzo that moved Judge to third, and a sacrifice fly by Giancarlo Stanton.
Stanton smoked the ball, but with a stiff wind blowing in all day from leftfield, he had to settle for the out and RBI.
The Yankees had a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the seventh when they put runners on second and third with one out, but Aaron Hicks struck out and Judge flew out to center.
The strikeout left Hicks 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position this season.
Then Torres saved the Yankees — and avoided additional work for their bullpen — but putting an abrupt end to the first game in the ninth.
