With a 15-2 win over the New York Yankees on Sunday, the Texas Rangers earned their first four-game series win against the Yankees since July 1995.
The Rangers dropped the series opener 4-2 for their fourth consecutive loss after returning from a three-game sweep in Cincinnati but turned around to win the remaining three games of the weekend, outscoring the Yankees 22-4 and giving Texas its best start to a season since 2013.
“I really thought it was important, and we bounced back and showed that we had the capability,” manager Bruce Bochy told the media after Sunday’s win. “Not that I had any doubt, but you have a really tough series that we had in Cincinnati, [then] to come back against a really good team and just play really good ball — we pitched well, we swung the bats well, [and played] good defense — just a great series for us.”
Even with ace Jacob deGrom heading to the injured list, Rangers pitchers thrived in the series, holding a Yankees team that averaged 4.32 runs per game entering the series to eight total runs in four games.
Nathan Eovaldi’s three-hit, complete game shutout on Saturday night was the headlining performance, while Sunday’s starter Martin Perez allowed just one run in six innings.
“When we were flying back from Cincinnati, our plan here was to just win this series. I think in all four games we played good baseball, and we won the series in Dallas,” Perez told reporters. “Important for us as a team because winning games against this contending team is what we need, and we’ve got to move forward and keep winning games.”
While Perez pitched well, the offense was the highlight on Sunday.
Rookie third baseman Josh Jung blasted a grand slam in the bottom of the first to give the Rangers a 4-0 lead, and Jonah Heim, Nathaniel Lowe, and Adolis Garcia followed suit in the fifth as Texas piled on 13 runs over the first seven innings against Nestor Cortes and Albert Abreu.
“It felt amazing,” Jung told the media after the game. “I’ve never hit a grand slam at any level, so it was pretty cool.”
“That’s just a really good pitcher,” Jung added about the 2022 All-Star Cortes, “and it felt like we kind of suffocated him.”
The Rangers’ season continues at 7:05 p.m. CT on Tuesday as the team hosts the Arizona Diamondbacks (16-13) for a two-game series.