The Texas Rangers defeated the New York Yankees 4-2 on Sunday in Game 2 of their doubleheader.
Infielder and outfielder Brad Miller’s pinch-hit, a two-run homer in the seventh inning that interrupted Michael King’s amazing shutout streak.
It lifted the Rangers past the Yankees with a 4-2 win on Sunday to salvage a doubleheader split.
“It’s a cold night and you’re facing a guy who really hasn’t given up anything all year,” said Rangers manager Chris Woodward. “To square one up and the wind is blowing straight in. To hit it out that far, it was a pretty good poke.
It was Brad Miller’s fourth pinch-hit homer of the season, and six of his 14 RBIs have given the Rangers a lead this season.
“Credit to Miller,” said Boone. “I think (King) was trying to go four-seamer up there and probably didn’t quite get it to where he wanted to, but I think he missed too bad with it and Miller sold out and got to it and caught him.”
After catcher Jonah Heim doubled to left to start the eighth, King relieved pitcher Jordan Montgomery. King walked right fielder Kole Calhoun, first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, and infielder Andy Ibáez on a forceout, moving Heim to third.
One pitch before Miller’s homerun, Heim scored on a wild pitch to the backstop. King’s ERA rose from 0.51 to 1.42 as a result of his rare unsuccessful outing.
“Obviously I want to be great every time out there and to have a bad one always hurts,” said King. “But it’s a learning experience. You got to keep going and bounce back.”
Yankees second loss
Texas won for the sixth time in six games, with player Eli White also hitting a home run. In the second game, Giancarlo Stanton blasted a two-run homer. The Yankees suffered its second loss in 14 games.
“I did think we hit some balls, squared some balls. Giancarlo hit that ball that ends up landing in the bullpen,” said Boone. “We didn’t get a lot going necessarily; we had a chance there late. We got the bases loaded but just couldn’t punch through with that hit tonight.”
In the opening game, the Yankees had only two hits against Rangers starter pitcher Dan Dunning and went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
“Maybe it was those three days off,” said Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres. “I mean, I think most of the guys take off, the time on the swing and things like that. But those (Rangers) pitchers throw really well. And we didn’t make adjustments and we didn’t get any opportunity to score runs.”
Torres hit a walk-off home run to the opposite field off Texas Rangers left-hander John King to lift the New York Yankees to a 2-1 victory in the opening game of a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium.
“Part of it is he’s a really good player and a big hitter,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone. “I think we’ve seen him time and again, whether it’s in playoff situations, the biggest situations it seems like he does ratchet up that concentration level a bit.”
He also added that “Cold day out there, it was good to see him stick one that just happened quick. You’re thinking of all the possibilities there and he ends it real quick, which was nice”.
Sadly for the Yankees, the Rangers managed to secure a comeback in Game 2.
