ARLINGTON — The Yankees’ beleaguered batting order did little to mess with Texas — even after Rangers ace Jacob deGrom exited early with an injury.
The Aaron Judge-less lineup mustered five hits in a 5-2 loss Friday at Globe Life Field, failing to take advantage of 5.1 innings by the Rangers bullpen on a night that began with dominance by deGrom.
Judge remained out Friday after leaving Thursday’s series opener in Arlington with right hip discomfort. The reigning American League MVP underwent an MRI before Friday’s game to determine the extent of the injury, which he suffered in an awkward, head-first slide into third base Wednesday against the Minnesota Twins.
The injury-riddled lineup couldn’t lift Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt, whose season-long struggles continued. He served up five runs on 10 hits over five innings Friday to drop to 0-3. His ERA rose to 6.84 and the Yankees fell to 1-5 in games started by him this season.
The Yankees missed Judge both at the plate and in right field, where Franchy Cordero got turned around on a second-inning Robbie Grossman line drive that landed for a double, helping to ignite a two-run rally. Jonah Heim later sent an RBI double past the extended glove of Cordero in the third inning, then scored on a two-run home run by Grossman.
The Yankees lone runs came on a fifth-inning RBI single by Kyle Higoshioka and a sixth-inning sacrifice fly by Willie Calhoun, who spent parts of his first six MLB seasons with Texas. Both runs came against Dane Dunning, who hurled 3.1 innings in relief of deGrom.
Facing the Yankees for the first time since leaving the crosstown Mets in the offseason, deGrom retired the first 10 batters before giving up a fourth-inning walk to Anthony Rizzo. Calhoun added a single later in the frame, and deGrom exited immediately afterward at just 50 pitches.
It’s the second time in six starts this season that deGrom came out of a game due to an injury. He also left his April 17 start against the Kansas City Royals after four no-hit innings but didn’t miss his next outing.
The 34-year-old deGrom pitched nine seasons for the Mets, winning back-to-back National League Cy Young Awards in 2018 and 2019 and finishing top 10 in the voting four other years. Injuries limited him to 26 starts over the last two seasons, however, and he signed a five-year, $185 million contract with the Rangers in December.
Judge is the latest lineup regular to miss time with an injury, joining Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Donaldson and Harrison Bader. He said after Thursday’s game that he felt his hip grab at him during his second at-bat.
The 31-year-old Judge leads the Yankees with six home runs and 14 RBI this season.
“He’s arguably the best player in the sport, and it’s no secret what he means to our team,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said before Friday’s game. “Hopefully we don’t lose him for long.”
Friday marked the sixth time in eight games the Yankees scored three or fewer runs. They won Thursday, 4-2, behind another strong outing by ace Gerrit Cole, who improved to 5-0 this season.
Jhony Brito is set to start for New York on Saturday night, while former Yankee Nathan Eovaldi is scheduled to pitch for the Rangers.
()