ARLINGTON, TX — The Yankees continued their road trip in Texas Monday taking on the Rangers at Globe Life Field. The Yankees win 4-2 and improve to 19-10 in 2026.
It was a tight game until the very end, but the Yankees won it and that's what matters. On their nine game road trip, they are 6-1 in the first seven games.
Pitching Spotlight
Max Fried showed up again today. He pitched six shutout innings against the Rangers, striking out five (three times Seager).
Max Fried was solid today in Texas!#RepBX pic.twitter.com/EkiUCTX9uG
— The 4 to the 7 Podcast (@4tothe7pod) April 28, 2026
His command was not fully there today. He worked around it. The pickoff he had and the two double plays certainly helped his outing. Fried might be one of the most underrated starting pitchers in baseball. Being able to work around not having your stuff to still have a really good outing is so promising to see.
Hitting Spotlight
How can it not be Ben Rice and Aaron Judge? Judge and Rice are two of the top four hitters in all of baseball in WRC+. Today, the tandem went back-to-back for the first time in 2026 in the third inning off Rangers starter Jack Leiter.
BEN RICE HITS IT DEEP OUT OF TEXAS pic.twitter.com/A9u8GF6qWK
— The 4 to the 7 Podcast (@4tothe7pod) April 28, 2026
JUDGE GOES BACK TO BACK pic.twitter.com/Nq7gUtd4Z6
— The 4 to the 7 Podcast (@4tothe7pod) April 28, 2026
These two are putting up MVP-type numbers in the middle of the Yankees lineup. What is going on here is what was so appealing when Juan Soto was in New York doing what he did with Judge. It creates an issue for the opposition to try and get these two out on a consistent basis.
Also, Judge's OPS is back over 1.000.
Notable
Camilo Doval has shown flashes of brilliance, but has also struggled a lot at times. Today, he looked un-hittable when striking out Jake Burger and Josh Smith. Although, that was sandwiched between a Jock Pederson solo home run that was blasted out of the park.
Joc Pederson takes flight to make it 4-1, Yankees pic.twitter.com/yZVnUEg5sf
— Dillard Barnhart (@BarnHasSpoken2) April 28, 2026
Doval might be one of the more confounding relievers in baseball because the stuff and talent are both there, it's finding a way to get outs on a consistent basis.
What's Next
The Yankees and Rangers will play game two of their three game series tomorrow. Cam Schlittler will get the start for the Yankees, opposed by Jacob deGrom on the other side. It should be one of the better pitching match-ups of the early season. The game will be at 8:05 pm EST on Amazon Prime Video.
