Rangers Even Series Against Yankees

Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

April 28, 2023

Rangers 5, Yankees 2

ARLINGTON, Tex. (Apr 28) — The Texas Rangers evened their four-game series against the New York Yankees by winning on Friday night by a score of 5–2. The biggest spark of offense came from the bat of Robbie Grossman, who hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the third. This win puts an end to the Rangers’ four-game losing streak, and it gives them some momentum heading into the third game of this series. That game will be on Saturday evening at 6:05 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Right-hander Jhony Brito (2–2, 6.11 ERA) will be the starting pitcher for the Yankees. The Rangers will counter with Nathan Eovaldi (2–2, 5.20 ERA).

Rangers Strike First

It was the Rangers that got on the board first on Friday. In the bottom of the second, Ezequiel Duran grounded to short. This allowed catcher Jonah Heim to score. Moments later, Marcus Semien brought Robbie Grossman home with a double to left to make it 2–0 Rangers. One inning later, Heim plated Adolis Garcia with a double hit sharply to center. Next up was Grossman, who proceeded to hit his third homer of the year to right to make it 5–0 in favor of the Rangers. All five of the Rangers’ runs were given up by Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt. After pitching five innings, Schmidt took the loss for the Yankees, bringing his record for 2023 to 0–3, with an ERA of 6.84.

The Yankees’ bats did not stay silent for long, however. They broke that silence in the top of the fifth. Oswaldo Cabrera sprinted home on a single to left by Kyle Higashioka. Their second run of the evening came courtesy of a familiar face in the top of the sixth. A sacrifice fly off the bat of former Ranger Willie Calhoun plated Anthony Rizzo to make it 5–2.

Early Exit for deGrom

Rangers starter Jacob deGrom left Friday’s game in the bottom of the fourth inning, due to soreness in his right forearm. His early departure from the game was a precautionary move by the Rangers. Up until that point, deGrom allowed one hit, walked one, and struck out two in 3 2/3 innings. He threw 50 pitches, 32 of which were strikes. It is the second time this season that he has exited a game early. The last occurrence was April 17 against the Kansas City Royals with right wrist soreness.

Right-hander Dane Dunning took over in relief in the top of the fourth. Dunning picked up his second win of the season, providing 3 1/3 innings of relief after deGrom exited the game (3 H, 2R-ER, SO, WP, HBP, 52 pitches/34 strikes). Dunning is now tied for the team lead in wins for a reliever, along with Cole Ragans. He now leads the AL in innings pitched by a reliever with 20 1/3 IP. Rangers lefty Will Smith pitched a perfect ninth inning, earning the save (3).

Robbie Grossman

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Rangers designated hitter Robbie Grossman matched a career high on Friday with three extra-base hits (2x, also 5/31/16 against the Oakland Athletics as a member of the Minnesota Twins), going 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and two doubles. His season-high three-hit performance extended his active hit streak to nine straight games at .375 (12-for-32). That stretch has raised his season BA from .135 to .246 and his OPS from .457 to .736. Five of the switch-hitter’s six extra-base hits in 2023 have come as a left-handed batter, including two of his three home runs.

Postgame Comments

The first question that Rangers manager Bruce Bochy was in regard to the status of Jacob deGrom. After a brief sigh, Bochy replied “Yeah, he’s got some forearm tightness. It was just a precaution to take him out when we did. A couple of starts ago, he felt a little bit (of tightness), so that’s what we decided to do there as well. We’ll evaluate him on Saturday, and see how he feels.”

He was also asked what his thoughts were on deGrom’s performance leading up to his exit. Bochy said “He was throwing great. He was Jacob as we know him. He just started to tighten up in the fourth, We’ll see what’s going on in the next day or two.” Bochy also had words of praise for the bullpen when he was asked about their performance by saying “Dunning did a great job, and of course Will (Smith). They came through for us. The boys did a great job swinging their bats. (Robbie) Grossman had a big day. They did a lot of good things tonight”.