New York Yankees Overcome Unfavorable Pitching Matchup To Win Game 2 Against Texas Rangers

The unfavorable pitching matchup comes up every fifth spot through the rotation. Ever since the Yankees designated Carlo Carrasco for assignment, Relief Pitcher Ryan Yarborough has pitched in his spot in the rotation for the Yankees.

Yarbourgh has pitched well, but in this game, he matched up with Jacob deGrom, who has pitched much better as of late, and the Yankees suffered in this unfavorable pitching matchup. They overcame it to win 4-3. deGrom is probably one of the best pitchers ever. Do you believe baseball teams encounter problems when they face a game with an unfavorable pitching matchup?

Lineups

The Texas Rangers, in this unfavorable pitching matchup, had Sam Haggerty in center field and batting leadoff. Wyatt Langford was the left fielder and batted second. Josh Jung was the third baseman and batted third. Adolis García was the right fielder and was batting fourth. Marcus Semien was the second baseman, batting fifth.

Jonah Heim was the catcher and batted sixth. He was replaced by Tucker Barnhardt in the second inning. Jake Burger was the first baseman and batted seventh. Former Yankee Kyle Higashioka was the designated hitter and batted eighth. Joc Pederson pinch-hit for him in the eighth inning. Josh Smith was the shortstop and batted ninth. 

For the Yankees, in this unfavorable pitching matchup, Trent Grisham batted first and was the center fielder. Ben Rice was the first baseman and batted second. Oswald Peraza came in for him defensively in the ninth inning. Aaron Judge batted third and was the designated hitter. Cody Bellinger was the right fielder and batted fourth.

Jasson Dominguez was the left fielder and batted fifth. Anthony Volpe was the shortstop and batted sixth. Austin Wells was the catcher and batted seventh. DJ LeMahieu was the second baseman, batting eighth. Jorbit Vivas played third base and batted ninth. Paul Goldschmidt pinch-hit for him in the eighth inning.

Scoring Summary Unfavorable Pitching Matchup

In the second inning, LeMahieu grounded out, and Volpe scored. That gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead. In the fifth inning, Burger hit a solo home run. That tied the game at 1. In the seventh inning, Burger hit his second solo home run of the game. That gave Texas a 2-1 lead. Then Hagerty hit a solo home run. The Texas lead was extended to 3-1. Even though the starting pitching matchup was unfavorable for the Yankees, it was the bullpen that was giving the game away.

In the eighth inning, Bellinger hit a solo home run. That cut the Texas lead to 3-2. Also, Judge singled. That tied the game at 3. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Dominguez hit a walk-off home run, The Yankees won 4-3.

Game Notes 

The weather for this game was 53 degrees Fahrenheit, and there was a 100% chance of light rain. Probably not enough to cancel the game. They played in the light rain. Judge was 2-of-4 last night and raised his batting average to .403. He will have to keep up that pace if he is going to hit .400. He might not, but he is likely to win the triple crown in the American League.

Rice was in the starting lineup again, this time at first base. His excellent play has earned him a lineup spot. That means a day off for Goldschmidt. He has been great this season, but he needs his rest. He strengthens the Yankee bench.

Yesterday would have been Bobby Murcer‘s 79th birthday. He died far too soon. Coming into the game, Yarborough had the softest contact against in the American League. Texas is 26th in all of baseball in runs scored.

It got worse for the Texas Rangers. Heim hit a ball off the end of his bat in the second inning. It was so cold he lost feeling in his fingers. When he went out to warm up in the second inning, he threw the ball into center field and over the pitcher’s head. With a hit tonight, Cody Bellinger has a career-long 14-game hitting streak.

Conclusion

The Yankees had won 9 of 12 games coming into this contest. They were, however, beset by an unfavorable pitching matchup. deGrom made his first career start for the New York Mets against the New York Yankees. The Yankees have a comfortable lead in the American League East.