Yankees avoid sweep against Rangers, stay in playoff position

Gary Phillips, New York Daily News on Aug 6, 2025

Published in Baseball

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

With the New York Yankees desperate for a win, Paul Goldschmidt delivered off the bench on Wednesday when Aaron Boone asked the veteran to pinch-hit.

The right-handed hitter replaced the lefty-swinging Austin Wells with Texas Rangers southpaw Robert Garcia on the mound in the seventh inning. With the game tied at two and Texas searching for a sweep, Goldschmidt pulled an up and in fastball to left field for his 10th home run of the season and his second of the series.

The blast paved the way for a 3-2 victory, the Yankees’ only win of a six-game road trip that began in Miami. It also kept the Bombers in possession of a wild-card spot with the Rangers breathing down their necks.

At the time of publication, the Yankees were three games behind the Red Sox for the top wild-card spot and 1 1/2 games ahead of Texas for the final spot. The Bombers won the season series, so they hold the tiebreaker with Texas.

Prior to the series in Texas, Goldschmidt had not gone deep since June 19. However, the 37-year-old has tormented southpaws all season, as he entered Wednesday’s game with a major league-leading 222 wRC+ against lefties.

While Goldschmidt is no longer a viable option against righties, he made for the perfect pinch-hit weapon on Wednesday.

The Yankees scored their first two runs in the fourth inning, as Anthony Volpe hit a one-out, game-tying single off former high school teammate Jack Leiter. Jasson Domínguez, who reached via walk, then stole third as Volpe swiped second. Former Yankee Kyle Higashioka tried to catch Domínguez at third, but the catcher made an errant throw that trickled into left. That allowed The Martian to score a go-ahead run after the Rangers took a 1-0 lead in the third on a Sam Haggerty single.

The Rangers knotted the game back up in the fifth when Marcus Semien hit a sac fly off Carlos Rodón, but Goldschmidt’s home run put the Yankees back in front before Yerry De los Santos worked himself into and out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the seventh.

With the struggling Devin Williams no longer the Yankees’ designated closer, David Bednar then recorded his first save since being acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Tasked with recording five outs, Bednar worked around two walks and picked up five strikeouts while throwing a season-high 42 pitches.

Rodón, meanwhile, totaled five innings, six hits, two earned runs, four walks and three strikeouts over 93 pitches.

With their second straight sweep avoided, the Yankees will return home for an off day before beginning a three-game series with the Houston Astros on Friday.

Cam Schlittler, Luis Gil and Max Fried are scheduled to start for the Yankees, while Hunter Brown and Framber Valdez are lined up for Houston in the first two games. Both starters have sub-.300 ERAs this season.

____