16-19 – Rangers let Yankees off the hook, fall 7-4 in opener

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 05: Andrew McCutchen #4 of the Texas Rangers cannot get to a home run by Ryan McMahon #19 of the New York Yankees in the second inning during their game at Yankee Stadium on May 05, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) | Getty Images The Texas Rangers scored four runs but the New York Yankees scored seven runs. Yankees starter Elmer Rodriguez has had a peculiar beginning to his big league career.

The 22-year-old has been a big leaguer for just two games in which he has played and both have been starts against the Rangers, a team not in his division and one that will face New York just six times this year. Predictably, in his first outing at Yankee Stadium, Rodriguez let the nerves get to him in his first time on the mound in front of the home fans as he walked the first two batters and faced a bases loaded, no outs situation to start the game. By the end of the top of the first, he had also hit a batter and thrown a wild pitch that scored a run.

Overall, the Rangers benefitted with three runs off Rodriguez during his shaky first home frame but even that felt like a let down. It felt like the Rangers had allowed Rodriguez to escape when they had him and the Yankees on the ropes. At the time, up 3-0 early, it might have seemed greedy to not be ecstatic about three runs for a club that often has a devil of a time just scoring at all, but not capitalizing on a youngster handing out baserunners with a bigger inning felt like a wasted opportunity to bury the Yankees from the jump, something that could have impacted not only this game but the series going forward.

And, of course, wouldn’t you know it, the Rangers waited until all the way until an out in the ninth to score again and the Yankees — having basically the only productive lineup in the American League — methodically chipped away at the lead until they eventually overtook Texas before blowing the doors open late to essentially render the final few innings an afterthought. The Rangers had two hits with RISP in the first inning — their first two chances, no less! — to go along with all their other baserunners against a deer-in-the-headlines rookie starter and only one of those hits scored a run.