


The good news for the Yankees is that, for the second straight night, they were able to beat the weather forecast and actually play.
The bad news is that, for the second straight night, they went home wishing the skies had opened up over The Bronx.
After a 10th-inning, two-run home run by the Rangers’ Adolis Garcia handed them a 4-2 loss to open a three-game set at Yankee Stadium, however, the weather offered no comfort at all for a team that is now 41-35.
The Yankees have scored just four runs over their last 19 innings as the indefinite absence of Aaron Judge continues.
Making matters worse is that their bullpen — the steadiest part of the team this season — bore just as much responsibility for the loss as the Yankees’ hitting struggles.
Clay Holmes put the Yankees in a hole in the eighth inning before Michael King gave up the winning runs in the 10th
On the first pitch of extra innings, Garcia sent King’s fastball into the left-field seats, driving in ghost runner Nathaniel Lowe from second base and giving the Rangers the winning margin.
Will Smith promptly slammed the door in the bottom half of the 10th, including striking out pinch hitter Josh Donaldson, who was loudly booed after his at-bat.
The Rangers took a 2-1 lead in the eighth, when Josh Jung hit a one-out double off Holmes and moved to third on Robbie Grossman’s groundout.
From there, all it took was a Mitch Garver single to give Texas the lead.
The Yankees tied the score in the bottom of the eighth on Kyle Higashioka’s sacrifice fly that followed a pair of singles from Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Billy McKinney.
But that was where the rally ended. Anthony Volpe struck out looking and a pinch hitter Harrison Bader flied out to center.
The Yankees’ offense, as has become customary, squandered what few opportunities it had for much of the night.
Texas starter Dane Dunning pitched a masterful seven-plus innings, allowing just two runs on five hits.
When Anthony Rizzo hit a long one-out single off the wall in the seventh, opening the door to possible runs, D.J. LeMahieu slammed it shut by hitting into a double play.
One silver lining for the Yankees: LeMahieu showed signs of breaking out of an extended slump, mainly in the form of a double that helped set up a run in the second inning.
The double advanced Rizzo to third, and he scored on McKinney’s groundout.
That lead didn’t last long as the Yankees fell victim to a bizarre error by Kiner-Falefa in center field in the fourth inning.
With two out and Ezequiel Duran on first, Kiner-Falefa allowed Leody Tavares’ blooper to drop.
The ball went under his glove and Duran scored from first as Kiner-Falefa scrambled to recover.
Clarke Schmidt threw a solid 5 ¹/₃ innings, with the unearned run his only blemish on the night.
Schmidt, who struck out three, pitched effectively to contact, occasionally running into trouble, but working his way out of jams.
That, though, is where the positives ended for the Yankees, who have now lost five of their last seven and whose hold on the AL’s last wild-card spot is now in serious risk.
Manager Aaron Boone, for all the ire directed his way, has never missed the postseason.
Brian Cashman, in 25 years as the general manager, has rarely done so.
Such a scenario would be nothing less than calamitous in The Bronx, the biggest disappointment in years.
Being on one side of the cutline or the other doesn’t mean much on the morning of June 24, but the possibility does feel a little bit more real now.