Rangers Top Yanks 6-1

By: Ethan Semendinger

May 7th, 2026

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Well...you can't win them all. The Yankees looked flat, but that's okay. It happens.

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Quick Stats -

• Winning Pitcher: Nathan Eovaldi (4-4, 4.15 ERA)

• Losing Pitcher: Will Warren (4-1, 3.46 ERA)

• Save: N/A

• Home Runs (Texas): Corey Seager (7), Evan Carter (4)

• Home Runs (New York): Aaron Judge (15)

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Story Of The Game - Let me paint you a quick picture.

It is the year 2026. You and I are both working full-time jobs. We love what we do, but working a full time job comes with its challenges. It's hard work, and at the end of the day we're both tired, yet we know we have lots more to do.

Once we walk through the door back to our homes/apartments/condos/etc., there are about 800,000 different things that are vying for your attention once we get home. Maybe it's a pet who needs to go on a walk. Maybe it's a significant other reminding you to call your aunt to wish her a happy hip replacement. Maybe it's your kids. Maybe it's that Netflix free trial that needs to be cancelled before it starts rolling over into your credit card statements. Maybe it's a letter from your township or HOA that needs to be read. Maybe it's a list of groceries that need to be bought because the fridge is empty except for some almost spoiled milk, a half-used bottle of ketchup, and a few kraft singles that have survived, perfectly in tact since COVID. (Hey, that's your life, not mine. I stop at Lidl on my way home from work most days to pick up my dinner and a side salad, so my fridge is basically empty except for 800 cans of sparking water.)

Regardless, with everything out there trying to grab the attention of your eyeballs, it takes a special team of baseball players (or an extreme, arguably problematic, addiction to a team) to get us to sit down and spend a few hours watching on a Wednesday night.

The 2026 Yankees, as of right now, are that team. I actively am looking forward, each day, to putting the Yankees on at night.

...and then they decided to play horribly last night, and I just had to sit through it and take it because I was the game summary writer on call.

Truthfully, that's not all that bad. The game was over well before 10:00 PM, and I was able to have a bit of fun with this piece.

Additionally, going into last night, the Yankees had won 15 of their last 17 games. A loss here and there isn't just expected, but almost inevitable. I just got unlucky. So be it!

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Thoughts From The Game - The Yankees got crushed.

Let's get into it:

The Good:

• Aaron Judge hit his MLB-leading 15th home run last night!

  
  

• Yerry de los Santos- who was called up after the Yankees optioned Elmer Rodriguez down to the minors on Tuesday night- pitched a scoreless 3.1 innings after relieving Will Warren. (I could very easily see Yerry de los Santos being optioned down later tonight/early in the morning after using him in a long mop-up duty.) (EDIT: See my 10:15 PM comment at the end of this post. I am even more convinced this is going to happen now.)

  
  

• We all got to see that Ryan Yarbrough is still alive and well, pitching for only his third time since mid-April. I'm a believer in Yarbrough as a solid multi-inning reliever. Crazy that- as interesting as the bullpen has been- Yarbrough has been pushed into the mop-up duty role. He's a solid spot starter if/when they need him.

  
  

• It's National Teacher Appreciation week and the PTA in my school brought in delicious tacos for lunch on Wednesday! And they're more leftovers for Thursday's lunch! (Whoever decided that "The Good" only had to be about the Yankees?) Shout-out to my fellow teachers and educators! (And also shout-out to the nurses out there, because it is also National Nurses week too.)

  
  

The Bad:

• Besides Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Austin Wells, the rest of the Yankees line-up collected a grand total of...0 hits. (And, each of the aforementioned three hitters had only one hit apiece...so, it's not like they each were great.)

  
  

• Speaking of, the entire Yankees line-up managed to work...ZERO walks. Former Yankee Nathan Eovaldi went 8 innings of 3-hit, 0-walk, 1-run baseball. He did a number on the line-up last night. Wow.... ummm

  
  

• Of course, as I wrote that last point, Cody Bellinger worked a 2-out walk in the ninth inning. Add it to "The Bad" because he turned me into a liar.

  
  

• Will Warren did not have a great game. He lasted 4 innings of work, allowing 7 hits, 6 runs (all earned), and 3 walks. He did collect a solid 7 strikeouts, but that's a moot point in a game to forget.

  
  

• The Yankees lost 6-1.

  
  

In Other News:

• According to manager Aaron Boone, slugger Ben Rice and his injury recovery will not become an IL-stint situation. (As of now.) This is great news! However, the Yankees have not earned any leeway in terms of their past injury reporting and reliability, so I'm also going to believe that Ben Rice probably got his left-hand cut-off and they're waiting on the hand replacement surgery.

  
  

• A season debut is on the horizon with Carlos Rodon, who is tentatively scheduled to pitch on Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers! The starting pitching rotation keeps getting stronger.

  
  

• Meanwhile, Gerrit Cole will be in rehab for another few weeks, or about 2 to 3 more starts before he likely makes his 2026 season debut.

  
  

• Former Yankee DJ LeMahieu (who I have now mentioned in back-to-back posts, both in games the Yankees played the Rangers) was just named the manager for the summer collegiate Royal Oak Leprechauns. (He will now have more coaching experience than Aaron Boone did before he became the Yankees manager.)

  
  

• Ryan Weather's will NOT be starting tonight. He is overcoming a sickness and is okay, but it looks like his rotation spot will be skipped on this go-around.

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Next Up - The Yankees will finish their 3-game weekday series at home against the Texas Rangers with a Thursday afternoon match-up. The Rangers will be sending MacKenzie Gore (2-2, 4.67 ERA) to the mound against somebody that the Yankees decide on. The game will start at 12:35 PM and be broadcast on YES. Any guesses for who may start today?

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P.S. - I am writing this at 10:15 PM before any announcement has been made. One would think, if the Yankees Front Office knew Ryan Weathers was not going to be starting on Thursday, they would've not used Ryan Yarbrough last night and had him fill-in as a multi-inning spot starter, like he did multiple times last year. It won't be Gil, can't be Rodon, Cole, or Schmidt...maybe Chase Hampton will get the nod for his MLB debut a la Elmer Rodriguez two weeks ago. He's the only other non-injured starter on the 40-man roster. (Crazy to think, if this happens, two Yankees starting prospects made their debuts against the same AL West team in the span of about 2 weeks.)