ARLINGTON — With the Yankees holding a 4-1 lead in the eighth inning on Tuesday, a costly — and ugly — DJ LeMahieu error let the Rangers back in the game.
The blunder saw LeMahieu drop a chopped groundball right on top of first base. It should have been an easy out, but the Rangers’ Josh Smith reached safely after hurdling Yankees reliever Tommy Kahnle, who slid as he recovered the ball.
DJ, man….. pic.twitter.com/RNzKBbFcSz
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) September 4, 2024
Jake Cousins then replaced Kahnle, only to allow a softly-hit infield single to Marcus Semien and an RBI single to Josh Jung. The latter hit came on a ball that Gleyber Torres could have made a play on, but did not. A Nathaniel Lowe sacrifice fly then brought the Rangers within one before Clay Holmes loaded the bases in the ninth.
With one away, Rangers rookie Wyatt Langford then crushed a grand slam to walk things off. Their implosion complete, the Yankees lost, 7-4.
The sloppy ending wasted a strong performance from Carlos Rodón, who struck out 11 in his 28th start, setting a new season-high while holding Texas to one run over six innings. He also walked two over 99 pitches.
The only hit Rodón allowed came on a Jung solo homer in the fourth inning.
Meanwhile, former Yankee Andrew Heaney blanked the Bombers for five innings. The southpaw struck out eight himself while holding the Yankees to three hits and one walk.
The Yankees took the lead in the seventh, thanks in huge part to Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s legs.
The speedy nuisance took a huge lead off second base and essentially walked to third to force a balk from José Leclerc. Anthony Volpe, also getting a huge jump, advanced to second on the play. Chisholm proceeded to score the tying run on a Jose Trevino groundout.
Alex Verdugo, a months-long target for Yankees fans, followed up by knocking a 61.6-mph single to drive Volpe in.
Chisholm also beat out a groundball to load the bases for Volpe with two outs in the eighth. Volpe went on to drive in two runs with a single, but that proved insufficient thanks to LeMahieu’s error in the bottom of the frame.
The Yankees will now play a rubber match for the 10th straight series after blowing Tuesday’s lead.
Marcus Stroman will try to deliver a series win, as he is scheduled to start on Wednesday. The righty has been solid lately, recording a 2.35 ERA over his last four starts.
Nathan Eovaldi, another ex-Yankee, will start the series finale for Texas.