Warren dominates, Judge stays hot in Yankees’ 5-2 win over Rangers

New York—The Yankees improved to a season-high nine games above .500 by taking down the Rangers 5-2 behind another great start from Will Warren, who faced off against Patrick Corbin for the Rangers. 

Before the game, the Boone family experienced a memorable moment when Yankees manager Aaron Boone and his older brother, Bret Boone, the newly hired Rangers hitting coach, exchanged lineup cards. 

Warren picked up his first strikeout of the game on the first batter he faced, but he reached via a dropped third strike. That runner ended up getting erased on a strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play to end the inning.

Warren worked around a one-out single in the top of the second, picking up three more strikeouts to quickly put his total to five for the game. 

Ben Rice started the scoring with two outs in the bottom of the second with his 10th home run of the season into the second deck in right field to make it 1-0 Yankees. 

“I was just looking for something up in the zone to drive, that's all it is,” Rice said. “I think there are still a lot of things to improve on, so just continuing to work every day and move on to tomorrow.”

In the top of the fourth inning, Warren worked around a one-out single and picked up three more strikeouts to put his total up to eight on the night. 

Aaron Judge lined a single up the middle to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning and put his average back above 400 at .402. The next batter, Cody Bellinger, dunked in a bloop single to put runners at the corners and extend Belis' hit streak to 14 games, a new career high. A couple batters later, Rice drove in his second run of the game with a sac fly to make it 2-0 Yankees. 

Warren tied his career high in strikeouts with nine, which he set last time out on Wednesday in Seattle. 

Oswald Peraza made an unbelievable diving play up against the tarp at first base to record the first out of the top of the sixth inning. Then Warren walked a hitter and gave up back-to-back bloop singles loaded the bases with one out. 

“Yeah, I feel great,” Peraza said about how he feeling at third base. “I played shortstop and second base in the minor leagues; now, it's more third base. But I feel great. I practise it every day. It's a little different; maybe there's a little more adrenaline over there, but I feel good. I feel comfortable.”

Warren picked up his career high 10th strikeout on a perfectly placed fastball on the outside corner for the second out of the inning and to end his night. Mark Leiter Jr. replaced Warren on the mound in a bases loaded jam and struck out Joc Peterson on a nasty splitter to work out of trouble in the top of the sixth. 

Will Warren's final line: 5.2 innings pitched, five hits allowed, zero earned runs, one walk, and 10 strikeouts on 102 pitches. Warren threw his fastball 32% of the time, the sinker 28%, the sweeper 23%, the changeup 10%, and the curveball 8% of the time. Warren has now had three excellent starts in a row, setting a career high in strikeouts back-to-back games and lowering his ERA to 4.05 on the season. 

“Yeah, just getting ahead and attacking,” Warren said. “Wells and I put together a good plan, so just getting ahead and let the guys play behind us. I think when you can get the hitters on their heels, I’ve talked about it before, it just puts us in a good spot to execute our plan.”

Paul Goldschmidt worked a leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth inning, and Trent Grisham followed that up with a line drive single to right field to put two men aboard with nobody out and knock Corbin out of the game. The Ranger's legendary manager, Bruce Bochy, got ejected arguing balls and strikes. A couple batters later, Volpe dunked in a two-out RBI bloop double into center field to make it a 3-0 game. 

Leiter Jr. remained in the game in the top of the seventh, worked a 1-2-3 inning, and picked up another strikeout. 

Devin Williams replaced Leiter Jr. in the top of the eighth inning and picked up two strikeouts to help work around a one-out double to make it six straight scoreless outings for Williams. 

Grisham led off the top of the eighth inning with a rocket single in the right-center gap, and Judge followed that up with a porch shot, his 16th home run of the season, to make it a 5-0 game. 

“That one I’m kinda blowing out right there,” Judge said on his home run. “You're hoping it sneaks over, but I’m just trying to put a good swing on a pitch up out over the zone. Yeah, will take them all, they all count just the same.”

In the top of the ninth inning, Ian Hamilton replaced Williams and served up a two-run home run to Jonah Heim to make it a 5-2 game. Luke Weaver then replaced Hamilton on the mound and picked up the final out of the game to pick up the save, ending this one 5-2 and giving the Yankees game one of the Boone Bowl. 

The Yankees will go for the series win tomorrow with Ryan Yarbrough on the mound. They will face off against Jacob DeGrom for the Rangers. The first pitch will be at 7:05 p.m. ET on Prime Video. 

My thoughts on the game: Warren was great yet again tonight. In his last three starts, he has pitched 18 innings, with three earned runs, three walks, and 26 strikeouts. He has looked nasty on the mound. Judge continues to just do unbelievable things at the plate with two more hits tonight, including his 16th home run of the season with a .403 average and a 1.253 OPS. Rice also had two hits tonight, including a long home run into the second deck to start the scoring early.  Williams and Leiter Jr. were also great out of the bullpen. Tomorrow, the Yankees will look to win the series if the weather allows it.