With Aaron Judge’s status unclear, the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees will continue their four-game series on Saturday night in Arlington, Texas.
Judge missed Friday’s game, a 5-2 Rangers win, after leaving Thursday’s 4-2 New York victory in the fourth inning. Judge suffered a hip injury on a slide Wednesday vs. Minnesota, a game in which he went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs.
Per MLB.com, Judge underwent an MRI on Friday. Results were not immediately available.
“When we get [the results], we’ll know,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone told YES Network following Friday’s loss of Judge’s status. “It doesn’t seem too serious. But that said, we still don’t have a clear picture of it yet.”
Judge, the reigning American League Most Valuable Player, is batting .261 with six home runs and 14 RBIs this season.
While New York awaits word on its standout, Texas aims to build on pulling out of a slump. The Rangers scored five early runs Friday, then the bullpen did its part to preserve the advantage after Jacob deGrom’s early exit.
The victory snapped a four-game Rangers’ losing streak, which included a three-game series skid against previously struggling Cincinnati.
The departure of two-time Cy Young Award winner deGrom after 3 2/3 innings was the result of “forearm tightness” and a “precaution,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said in his post-game press conference.
“We’ll evaluate him [Saturday] and see how he feels,” Bochy added.
Other than deGrom’s uncertainty, Friday was a positive bounce-back win for Texas.
“We have a great group of guys and guys that have been through this before,” Robbie Grossman told Bally Sports Southwest in his post-game interview. “A lot of baseball left.”
Grossman went 3-for-4 in the streak-ending win, including a two-run home run in the third inning.
“It was a good ballgame for us,” Bochy said. “It was good to break this little streak we were in. I’m glad to get that one behind us.”
Nathan Eovaldi (2-2, 5.20 ERA) will start for Texas on Saturday. The right-hander last pitched Monday in a six-inning, no-decision at Cincinnati. He had seven strikeouts, matching his season high and giving him 31 in his five starts, and allowed three earned runs on six hits.
Against the Yankees, Eovaldi is 3-4 with a 3.83 ERA all-time in 18 appearances, primarily as a member of the Boston Red Sox. He made his last outing against New York on Aug. 12 last season, going six innings with three strikeouts and two earned runs in a no-decision.
Jhony Brito (2-2, 6.11 ERA) takes the mound for New York. Since winning his first two starts — becoming the first Yankee rookie to do so since Orlando Hernandez in 1998 — Brito has two taken two losses and a no-decision.
In the losses, both to Minnesota, Brito went two-thirds of an inning with seven earned runs given up on six hits on April 13, and 2 2/3 innings with three earned runs allowed on April 24. The loss last Monday was the right-hander’s most recent outing.
–Field Level Media
