History is Made in the Final Series of the Season as Yankees Split With the Rangers
The New York Yankees headed to Texas to face off against the Rangers in the final series of the season. Luis Severino got the start in game one of a four game set. The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the fifth when Kyle Higashioka hit an RBI single. Luis Severino was dealing for the Yankees. He looked absolutely dominant. Sevy threw seven no hit innings with one walk and seven strikeouts. He was pulled after the seventh despite having a no hitter. Severino was upset with Boone’s decision, but it’s better safe than sorry. All that matters is that Sevy is healthy for the postseason. The most important thing is that Severino looks amazing heading into the playoffs. All Yankee fans should be super pumped for Severino. Marwin Gonzalez added to the Yankees’ lead in the eighth with his solo home run. Later that inning Giancarlo Stanton blasted a home run of his own to make it 3-0. Miguel Castro came on for the eighth inning. He gave up an RBI groundout to Kole Calhoun to make it 3-1. Scott Effross came on for the ninth inning and picked up the save for the Yankees. The Yankees won the first game of this four game set.
The Yankees took an early 1-0 lead with an Oswaldo Cabrera home run in the first. Oswaldo Cabrera has been fantastic for the Yankees since he’s been called up, and he’s made an extremely strong case to be a starter in the playoffs. He looks like the frontrunner for the starting left fielder for the ALDS because it does not seem like Andrew Benintendi will be back in time. Jameson Taillon made his final start of the season in game two of this four game set against the Rangers. He gave up a two RBI single in the second to Josh Jung, and the Rangers took a 2-1 lead. The Yanks tied it up in the second with an Oswald Peraza solo home run. It was Peraza’s first big league home run. Oswald Peraza has made a real strong impression in his short time with the big league club. Yankee fans should be excited about his future in pinstripes. The Yankees took a 3-2 lead in the fifth from a Marwin Gonzalez RBI single. The Rangers took the lead back in the fifth from an Adolis Garcia two run homer. Taillon’s night ended after six innings with four earned runs. Taillon should be proud of himself for the very solid season he turned in for the Yankees. Taillon was reliable all season, and hopefully he can continue his success in the playoffs. Aroldis Chapman tossed a scoreless seventh inning, and the Yankees tied up the ballgame in the eighth from a Kyle Higashioka solo homer. The Yankees took the lead later that inning from a Harrison Bader RBI single. Greg Weissert threw a shutout eighth inning, and Jonathan Loaisiga picked up the save in the ninth. The Yankees took the first two games of the four game series as they secured the series split.
Aaron Judge has been sitting on 61 home runs since he hit his 61st off of TIm Mayza in Toronto. The pressure of breaking the record seemingly has been getting to Judge, and it looks like he’s pressing. The pressure was lifted off of the back of Aaron Judge in the top of the first inning when Judge smoked his 62st home run of the season. Aaron Judge now holds the records for most home runs in a season in the American League, and he is now what many people consider to be the legitimate home run leader. All of us Yankees fans should feel so lucky to have witnessed this incredible season. We will likely never see another season like this in our lifetime, and we could not be luckier to have a class act like Aaron Judge be the one to provide us this magical season. Aaron Judge has officially cemented himself into baseball history and it has been a pleasure to watch.
In the bottom of the first more Yankee history was made. Gerrit Cole struck out Nathaniel Lowe. This was Cole’s 249 strikeout of the season, and this gave Cole the most strikeouts in a season by a Yankee. He broke Ron Guidry’s record from the 1978 season. Cole’s record will always be in the shadows of Judge’s amazing accomplishment, but it is nothing to be scoffed at. The Rangers did tie up the game from an Adolis Garcia RBI single later in the first. The Yankees took the lead in the fifth from a Giancarlo Stanton solo home run to make it 2-1. Stanton looks to be finding his stroke at the right time. This was his third game in a row with a home run, and hopefully he gets hot for the playoffs. The Rangers took the lead in the bottom of the fifth from a Leody Tavaras two run home run. Cole threw six innings with two earned runs. Cole had an up and down season, but all of that will be forgotten depending on how well he pitches in the postseason. Cole came up short in the playoffs last year, so all the fans are looking for him to do is show up this postseason. Nothing he did this season matters in the long run. All that matters is he deals in the playoffs. Clarke Schmidt came out for the seventh and eighth innings and threw two scoreless innings. The Yankees were unable to score again, so they lost this game by a score of 3-2. But Yankee fans will remember this game forever because of what Aaron Judge achieved.
Domingo German started the final game of the regular season for the Yankees. The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the second from an RBI single by Kyle Higashioka. Higgy has had a real solid second half of the season for the Yankees. Hopefully he can keep swinging the bat well this postseason. The Rangers tied it up in the third off of a solo homer by Charlie Culberson. The Yankees took the lead in the fourth from a Jose Trevino solo homer. Trevino has been tremendous for the Yankees all season, and his story is one of the true highlights of the season. The game was tied up in the bottom of the fourth from a Jonah Heim solo homer. In the fifth the Rangers took the lead from a Bubba Thompson RBI double. They added to their lead later that inning from a Marcus Semien RBI double to make it 4-2. German was pulled after 4.1 innings with four earned runs. Alber Abreu came on and finished the fifth inning. Miguel Castro, Lou Trivino, and Lucas Luetge each threw a scoreless inning. The Yankees were unable to comeback, and they dropped the final game of the regular season by a score of 4-2. The Yankees split their final series of the season, and they finished with a 99-63 record. The Yankees had a great regular season all things considered, and they are AL East Champs so there is nothing to complain about. But now the real season starts. Let’s look for the Yankees to finally get number 28. Road to 28 begins!
By : Riley Briggs