Yankees

Yankees Beat Rangers 4-2 As Judge, Rice And Jazz Power Another Win

By ••3 min read
Yankees Beat Rangers 4-2 As Judge, Rice And Jazz Power Another Win

The Yankees didn’t need chaos tonight.

They had power, pitching, and Aaron Judge doing Aaron Judge things again.

The Yankees beat the Texas Rangers 4-2 at Globe Life Field, improved to 19-10, and picked up their 10th win in their last 12 games.

And once again, the formula was simple.

Max Fried shoved.

The lineup hit the ball out of the park.

Aaron Judge reminded everybody who he is.

Max Fried Set The Tone

Fried gave the Yankees exactly what they needed: six scoreless innings, four hits allowed, two walks, and five strikeouts on 89 pitches.

No panic. No mess. No nonsense.

ADVERTISEMENT
Advertisement

Texas had chances, but Fried kept shutting the door. He got double plays, controlled the damage, and never let the Rangers turn traffic into a real problem.

That is ace behavior.

His ERA is now down to 2.09, and he moved to 4-1 on the season. You cannot ask for much more than that.

The Third Inning Changed Everything

The Yankees were quiet early against Jack Leiter, but that changed fast in the third.

Jose Caballero singled. Trent Grisham followed with a single. Then Ben Rice stepped in and launched a two-run homer to left.

Just like that, 2-0 Yankees.

Then Aaron Judge came up.

And of course, because baseball loves drama, Judge immediately went deep too.

Back-to-back homers.

Rice with his 10th of the year. Judge with his 11th.

That gave the Yankees a 3-0 lead, and it also put Rice and Judge in some real franchise-history company. They became just the second pair of Yankees teammates to each reach double-digit homers within the team’s first 29 games of a season, joining Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle from 1956.

Yeah. That kind of company.

Judge Is Heating Up Again

Judge finished 3-for-3 with a homer, two doubles, a run scored, and an RBI.

That is not just a good night. That is a grown-man box score.

His home run was the 379th of his career, tying him with Orlando Cepeda and Tony Perez for 75th all-time.

And the bigger thing?

Judge has now hit safely in 16 of his last 18 games.

So if anyone was waiting for the captain to “figure it out,” listen… he already has.

Jazz Added The Extra Punch

Jazz Chisholm Jr. kept the power party going in the fourth inning with a solo homer to right.

That made it 4-0 Yankees, and that run ended up being important because Texas did not completely go away late.

Jazz finished 1-for-4 with the homer and his 10th RBI of the season.

The Yankees got three home runs total: Rice, Judge, and Chisholm.

That was the offense.

Not a million hits. Not a parade of rallies.

Just damage.

The Rangers Made It Interesting Late

Camilo Doval gave up a solo homer to Joc Pederson in the seventh, cutting the lead to 4-1.

Then in the ninth, Texas pushed across another run after Jake Burger reached, Josh Smith got aboard on a Jazz Chisholm error, and Alejandro Osuna singled home a run.

So yes, it got a little uncomfortable.

But David Bednar finished it off and earned his eighth save of the season.

Was it perfectly clean? No.

Did the Yankees win anyway? Yes.

That is what good teams do.

Final Thoughts

This was not a blowout. It was not some wild offensive explosion.

But it was a professional win.

Fried dominated. Judge carried the lineup. Rice keeps looking like a real problem for opposing pitchers. Jazz added power. The bullpen bent but did not completely break.

The Yankees are now 19-10.

NYY.NEWS SHOP - MEMORABILIA, CLOTHING & MORE