Yankees Reactions: Judge's Ninth Inning Blast Was the Difference

ARLINGTON, TEX — Exhale. The Yankees won and took the series against the Rangers, winning 3-2 and improving to 20-10 on the season. The Yankees are the first team in the AL to win 20 games in 2026.

Pitching Spotlight

Cam Schlittler was stellar once again. The Rangers lineup does a good job against high velocity pitchers. Not against Schlittler, who struck out eight in six shutout innings.

There were some hard hit balls in the game, but those balls found the gloves of the Yankees outfielders. Schlittler continues to prove that he is an ace. His ERA on the season sits at 1.51. He is just so good and fun to watch. Tonight, he out-duled a former Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom, another former phenom New York pitcher.

Hitting Spotlight

Aaron Judge won the game for the Yankees. It was 2-0 in the top of the ninth when Judge blasted a ball 424 feet to deep left field to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead.

This was the deciding run after the Yankees had some drama in the bottom of the ninth inning after a big error by Ryan McMahon opened the floodgates for two Rangers run.

Judge is now on a three game home run streak. Ho hum.

Notable

One play can change a game. Fernando Cruz has not been as dominant to start 2026 as he was last season. The first two runners in the eighth inning reached setting the table for Joc Pederson who...bunted? Yes. He bunted right back to Cruz and he nailed the lead runner at third base. Two strikeouts later, the inning and jam was over.

What's Next?

The Yankees and Rangers will wrap up their nine-game road trip and their series against the Rangers. For the Yankees, Elmer Rodriguez will make his MLB debut. For the Rangers, former Yankee Nathan Eovaldi will get the ball. First pitch is at 2:05pm EST on YES.