Yankees strike for eight runs in later innings, beat Rangers 9-2 to secure series win

The youngster is in concussion protocol, and undergoing an MRI on his shoulder.

• New York worked out of a two out jam following the pause in the action, then opened an early lead, as Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger laced triples to make to make it a 1-0 game. That marked the first time the Yankees have tripled twice in one inning since April 2015 (Carlos Beltran and Chase Headley).

• With Ryan Weathers scratched due to an illness, the Yanks were forced to go to a bullpen game. Paul Blackburn threw just one inning as planned, before turning things over to Brendan Beck in his MLB debut. The 27-year-old right-hander actually looked pretty comfortable, allowing just two runs on two hits and three walks over three innings of work.

• MacKenzie Gore held the Bombers in check after the first, until they broke through again with six runs in the bottom of the fifth. The big blow was a Trent Grisham base-clearing double with the bases loaded, but J.C. Escarra, Aaron Judge, and Bellinger added RBI singles to make it a five-run ballgame.

• Grisham would strike again an inning later, as he lined a two-out single for his third hit of the day, then proceeded to steal second and score the Yankees' eighth run of the afternoon on Max Schuemann's RBI double. Grisham scored twice, drove in three, stole a base, and had three hits in a much-needed big day.

• Ryan McMahon enjoyed himself a nice day at the plate as well, reaching four times with a double, RBI single, and a pair of walks after coming off the bench to play the hot corner following the Dominguez injury. McMahon is now hitting .304 with seven RBI and a .833 OPS over his last 15 games.

• Bellinger was also on-base four times with three hits and a walk, and Goldschmidt three (two hits, one walk).

• Jose Caballero got into the game in the later innings, taking an at-bat and playing shortstop. The infielder was out of the lineup because his elbow was still a bit swollen after being HBP on Wednesday night, but Aaron Boone expected that he'd still be available off the bench.

• Tim Hill (1.2), Brent Headrick (1.1), and Jake Bird (1.0) combined to all just two walks and two hits while striking out two batters across three innings of work in relief of Beck. Camilo Doval put runners on the corners with one out in the ninth, but did well to keep Texas off the board.

• The Yanks improved to 26-12, putting them 1.5 games ahead of the Rays in the AL East.

Game MVP: Trent Grisham

Grisham has had a bit of a tough time at the plate thus far this season, but he drove in three and scored a pair of runs as part of a three-hit day.

Highlights

What's next

The Yanks head to Milwaukee to start a season with the Brewers at 7:40 p.m. on Friday.

Max Fried (4-1, 2.39 ERA) faces Jacob Misiorowski (2-2, 2.84 ERA) in a battle of two of baseball's best.