Rangers lose to Yankees in first meeting between Darvish, Tanaka
NEW YORK (AP) -- Ronald Torreyes hit a game-winning single with two outs in the 10th inning after midnight, and the New York Yankees edged the Texas Rangers 2-1 on a rainy Friday night for just their second win in 10 games.
Brett Gardner lined a tying home run with one out in the New York ninth off closer Matt Bush. After Chasen Shreve (2-1) escaped a bases-loaded jam in the top of the 10th, Torreyes kept the Yankees atop the AL East.
Yu Darvish and Masahiro Tanaka kept it scoreless into the late innings in the first major league meeting between the Japanese stars.
Gary Sanchez, whose passed ball gave Texas a 1-0 lead in the ninth, singled with one out in the 10th off Bush (2-3). A single by Didi Gregorius put runners at the corners and after Chris Carter struck out, Torreyes lined a single to center field.
Often playfully hoisted by Gregorius in the dugout to high-five Aaron Judge after the slugger's home runs, the diminutive Torreyes wound up on the shoulders of his teammates. The winning hit came at 12:19 a.m. -- the start was delayed 1 hour, 42 minutes because of rain.
Torreyes also made a pair of sparking defensive plays at third base. He dived to his left to snag Shin-Soo Choo's grounder and threw to second from his knees to start an inning-ending double play in the third inning, then made a backhand stab, spun and beat Elvis Andrus with a two-hop throw to first leading off the seventh.
The Darvish-Tanaka duel didn't disappoint the big crowd in the Bronx or the national television audience tuned in Saturday morning back in their homeland.
"Breakfast at Wimbledon," Yankees manager Joe Girardi mused before the game. "Breakfast at Yankee Stadium."
Darvish dominated the Yankees for seven innings, giving up just two singles and striking out 10 without a walk. Tanaka was totally in control, too, working around three singles in eight innings, fanning nine and walking two.
Tanaka retired 16 straight batters after escaping a two-on, no-out jam in the second. He stayed ahead the whole way by throwing first-pitch strikes to 25 of 27 hitters.
Despite the stellar outing, the no-decision left Tanaka at 0-6 in his last eight starts.
The Rangers wanted Darvish to keep a steady rhythm after a rugged outing last weekend against Seattle when he sometimes lagged more than 40 seconds between pitches.
Darvish did fine with tempo while mixing his deliveries. Facing Judge in the seventh, he teased the rookie slugger with a 64 mph curve before getting him to swing through 95 mph heat for strike three.
Judge singled in the ninth. The rookie who leads the majors in home runs has safely reached base in a career-best 25 straight games.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rangers: LHP Martin Perez ripped a fingernail off his left thumb and broke the tip of the bone in an accident at his New York hotel Thursday night. The team said it's too early to know if he'll make his next start Wednesday night at Cleveland. ... LHP Cole Hamels (right oblique) threw a bullpen session before the game. If all is OK, he could pitch Monday in Cleveland in his first big league start since April 26.
Yankees: 3B Chase Headley missed his second straight game because of back spasms. He had an epidural, and Girardi said Headley might be able to play Sunday. ... OF Jacoby Ellsbury (concussion) is taking batting practice. The team hopes he can soon begin a rehab assignment.
UP NEXT
Rangers: RHP Austin Bibens-Dirkx (2-0, 4.25 ERA) made his major league debut last month after 12 seasons in the minors. This will be his ninth game for Texas and fourth start.
Yankees: RHP Luis Cessa (0-0, 7.36) got hit hard last week by Oakland in his first start of the season.
