Yankees Struggle Despite Judge’s Return

ARLINGTON, Texas — The return of Judge Aaron didn’t quite breathe life into the Yankees. In fact, their struggles had already begun long before he went on the injured list, so his comeback wasn’t a cure-all.

Although the Yankees managed just two hits, the real issue of the night was the relentless challenge posed by Devin Williams. Time and again, in critical moments, the Yankees just couldn’t come through.

After giving up a home run earlier in the game, Williams took the mound for a scoreless eighth inning. Unfortunately, this led to the Yankees’ fifth consecutive loss, a close 2-0 defeat against the Rangers at Globe Life Field on Tuesday night.

In the eighth, Williams faced Adris Garcia, who sent a fly ball into left field. Jasson Domínguez raced back and tried to leap just before the warning track, but the ball slipped from his grasp for a double.

Next up was Joc Pederson, who had hit a homer off Williams the night before and was batting just .132. Pederson walked on four pitches, followed by a five-pitch walk to Wyatt Langford that loaded the bases.

Mark Reiter Jr. and David Bedner were warming up in the bullpen, but Aaron Boone opted to stick with Williams. After a tough battle of ten pitches, Williams ended up giving up a two-run single.

Before the game, Boone had mentioned he was open to using different options, but after Kamilo Doval and Luke Weaver pitched solid innings, he decided to go with Williams in the eighth.

Facing the Yankees that night was Nathan Eovaldi, who hasn’t been easy for them in the past. Eovaldi had been dominating, allowing only two runners over 30 2/3 innings since July.

On Tuesday, he showed the Yankees no mercy, shutting them out over eight innings and allowing just one base runner. Anthony Volpe had a chance with a double in the third, but it felt more like a fleeting moment in an otherwise bleak game for the Yankees.

Ryan McMahon opened the ninth with a single but was quickly eliminated when pinch hitter Giancarlo Stanton grounded into a double play.

Judge made his comeback after being sidelined since July 25 due to a right flexor strain. He went 3-for-3, though he did have two strikeouts.

Will Warren had a strong outing with five scoreless innings, though he faced trouble throughout. He allowed three hits and three walks, but somehow managed to keep the Rangers from scoring, maintaining a perfect 0-10 record against them concerning runners left on base in those first four innings.

However, the downside was that he required 98 pitches to secure those 15 outs, marking him as the sixth consecutive Yankees starter to not complete six innings.