Ben Rice and Aaron Judge homered, and Will Warren struck out 10 batters as the Yankees took the series opener against the Texas Rangers, 5-2, on Tuesday night in the Bronx.
Here are the takeaways…
-Rice got the scoring started in the second inning with a solo shot that went into the upper deck in right field off of lefty Patrick Corbin. It’s the left-hander’s 10th homer of the season — in his 42nd game — after he just seven in 50 games a year ago. In his second at-bat, Rice smoked a pitch into center field but Sam Haggerty made a running snare to steal an extra-base hit. The play did allowJudge to score from third on the sac fly. The DH finished 2-for-3.
The Yankees wouldn’t score again until the sixth when Anthony Volpe hit a two-out bloop single just out of the reach of the sliding centerfielder to score Paul Goldschmidt from second.
Judge came up to the plate in the eighth after going 1-for-3 and his average dipped to .400 earlier in the game, but then he took Caleb Boushley the other way for his MLB-leading 16th dinger with Grisham on base to put the Yanks up 5-0. He finished 2-for-4 and is hitting .403. The homer went just 326 feet, the shortest longball of Judge’s career.
-Warren had another efficient and dominant start. After striking out nine in his last start against the Mariners, Warren sat down 10 Rangers, breaking the previously career high of nine he set in Seattle a week prior.
Warren was cruising until the sixth inning. After an incredible catch by third baseman Oswald Peraza in foul territory, the Rangers loaded the bases after a walk and back-to-back bloop singles. Warren struck out Marcus Semien looking before manager Aaron Boone pulled his starter for Mark Leiter Jr. to get out of the two-out jam. The right-handed reliever struck out Joc Pederson to end the inning.
Warren pitched 5.2 innings (101 pitches/65 strikes) without giving up a run and allowing just five hits and one walk.
-The Yankees’ bullpen did its job, keeping the Rangers off the board. The combination of Leiter Jr. and Devin Williams pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, and striking out four batters, but Ian Hamilton allowed a two-run shot to Jonah Heim with two outs and then a triple that got past a diving Judge before he was pulled for Luke Weaver. Weaver got the final out to lock down the save.
–Cody Bellinger extended his hitting streak to 14 games and finished 1-for-3. On the other side, Trent Grisham‘s sixth-inning single broke an 0-for-14 stretch for the outfielder. Grisham went 2-for-4 on Tuesday night.
-Volpe was put in the No. 5 hole and finished 1-for-4 but his RBI blooper with two outs could potentially get him going.
Game MVP: Ben Rice
Warren was great, but he faltered at the end and was partially bailed out by the bullpen. But Rice accounted for two of the team’s runs.
Highlights
Ben Rice homers to open the scoring! pic.twitter.com/eye1K0I4fZ
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 20, 2025
Ben Rice gets a sacrifice fly as Sam Haggerty makes an incredible catch pic.twitter.com/gjDyZPhcp1
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 21, 2025
OSWALD PERAZA GOES OVER THE TARP AND MAKES THE CATCH! pic.twitter.com/7shN3qWSt2
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 21, 2025
Anthony Volpe with a bloop hit to bring in a run!
(via @Yankees) pic.twitter.com/nU8TAo4sOT
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 21, 2025
What’s next
The Yankees continue their three-game set with the Rangers on Wednesday night in the Bronx. Ryan Yarbrough (1-0, 3.70 ERA) will come out of the bullpen to starts for the Yankees. Jacob deGrom (4-1, 2.29 ERA) will be on the mound for the Rangers.
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