The New York Yankees had a matinee today for the fourth and final game against the Texas Rangers. If the Yankees could come away with a win, it would be their eighth series win in a row. The final score was Yankees 2 and the Rangers 0, for the Yankees’ seventh shutout of the season and their 8th series win in a row.
Dan Dunnings faced DJ LeMahieu to start the first, and he ground out. Brett Gardner struck out, and Luke Voit ground out to third. At the bottom, Domingo German faced Calhoun, who flew out to Andujar in left. Nick Solak singled down the middle. Nate Lowe flew out to left. Joey Gallo flew out to end the scoreless inning.
Rougie Odor led off the second inning by going down looking. Gleyber Torres had a base hit in front of the left-fielder. Gary Sanchez hit into a double play to end the half. Adolis Garcia flew out. David Dahl singled to right. Kiner Felafa ground into a double play for the force out. Charlie Culberson hit out to Gardner in center, still no score.
Mike Ford started the third inning but singling to left field. Miguel Andujar singled up the middle to two on and no outs. Tyler Wade went down looking. DJ LeMahieu got into an odd double play when the ball was thrown to third, catching Ford off the base. At the bottom, Heim popped back to catcher Sanchez who made an over-the-shoulder catch. Calhoun doubled to far left out of the reach of Wade. Solak went down on strikes. Lowe flew out to Gardner in left-center for yet another scoreless inning.
The top of the fourth was led off by Brett Gardner, doubling to the center-field wall. Luke Voit, with one-on and no outs, popped out to the Rangers dugout. A wild pitch allowed Garder to avoid the throw and made it to third base. Odor struck out. Gleyber Torres ground out to strand a leadoff double. Joey Gallo led off the bottom when he singled. Garcia singled. Dahl struck out, and Kiner Falefa ground into a double play for another scoreless inning as German worked out of a mini jam. No score.
Gary Sanchez led off the fifth in a game that looked like a pitcher’s duel. Sanchez struck out. Ford flew one to the top of the centerfield wall that was caught for the second out. Andujar went down looking for the Yankees’ fifth scoreless inning. At the bottom German with only 50 pitches, Culberson led off by grounding out to second. Heim had a base hit up the middle. Calhoun lined out to Gardner in center. Solak hit to third, DJ made a sparkler for the force out at second to end the inning. Still scoreless.
At the top of the sixth, Tyler Wade ground to right. DJ LeMahieu chopped out to short. Brett Gardner worked a walk. Luke Voit hit into the force out to end the half. At the bottom, Lowe led off against German, who had only allowed 6 hits and no runs, and he hit right back to German. Gallo struck out. Garcia struck out as both dueling pitchers go into the seventh inning scoreless.
The seventh started as a surprise, with John King replacing Dunning with 89 pitches, and pitched masterfully to hold the Yankees scoreless. In inning was led off by Rougie Odor, who got plunked. Glyber Torres with one on and no outs ground out, but Odor moved to second. Gary Sanchez got a line-drive single that didn’t allow Odor to score as he held up on third base. Gio Urshela was brought in to pinch-hit for Ford. Urshela got an RBI single driving in Odor as the New York Yankees finally got on the board against Ranger pitching. Miguel Andujar went done on strikes. Aaron Judge, who had the day off, pinch-hit for Tyler Wade. Judge singled driving in Sanchez, Urshela was out at second, in a play that should have been challenged but wasn’t. New York Yankees 2 the Rangers 0, in the longest half-inning of the game.
David Dahl led off against German, who only had 79 pitches at the bottom of the seventh. Dahl ground out to Voit; Dahl was out at first as German handled the out. Kiner Falefa ground back to German. Culberson ground out to short. German had put down the last eight Rangers in a row. Yankees 2 Rangers 0.
The top of the eighth inning saw DJ Lemahieu at the plate; he lined out to short. Brett Gardner singled. Luke Voit walked. Rougie Odor went down on strikes for his third strikeout of the day. The Rangers brought in Josh Sborz to face Gleyber Torres with two on and two outs. Torres struck out looking. At the bottom, the Heim faced Chad Green, and he ground out to Voit. Calhoun ground out to short right. Solak popped out to Torres for the quick 1-2-3 inning for Green. Yankees 2 Rangers 0.
In the eighth inning, it was Gary Sanchez leading off; he struck out. Gio Urshela walked. Andujar hit liner single for short. Urshela made a running error to third for the 18th out on the bases and the most in the majors. Aaron Judge lined out to short left. Aroldis Chapman came in in the bottom of the ninth inning, hoping to get his 11th save of the season. Lowe struck out. Gallo walked. Khris Davis pinch hit for Dahl, and he struck out on a 102 mph fastball.
The final score was the New York Yankees 2 and the Texas Rangers 0. The winning pitcher was Domingo German, and the loser was John King. Aroldis Chapman got his 11th save of the season.