Yank Bullpen & Machine Gun Bats Take Down Rangers. NY 9 Texas 2

May 8, 2026 paperbacklou 2026 0
Cody Bellinger triples in Paul Goldschmidt -- who had just tripled a batter before him -- to make it 1-0 Yanks in the 1st.

Ryan Weathers was under the weather with a stomach virus, so the Yankee bullpen and rookie Brendan Beck came to the rescue, aided by Yankee machine gun bats to mow down the Rangers 9-2 on a beautiful Thursday afternoon at Yankee Stadium — bright sunshine with temps in the 60’s.

Paul Blackburn “opened” and pitched a shutout 1st inning, then rookie starter Brendan Beck came in and threw 3 innings of 2-hit ball, allowing 2 runs. The Yank pen came back in and threw 5 shutout innings — Tim Hill, Brent Headrick, Jake Bird, and Camilo Doval each pitching an inning or more.

And the offense was provided by lots of singles and doubles — the big hit a bases-loaded-clearing double by Trent Grisham in the 6th that turned a 2-1 Rangers lead into a 4-2 Yankee lead. NY scored 3 more runs in the 6th and added insurance runs in the 7th and 8th off the Texas pen.

The Yanks banged out 14 hits and worked 6 walks. Cody Bellinger went 3-4 with a walk and 2 RBI; Grisham went 3-5 with 3 RBI; Ryan McMahon went 2-3 with 2 walks and an RBI.

The Martian Makes Great Catch — Bangs Head & Shoulder Against Wall

McMahon was in the game because The Martian, Jasson Dominguez, made a spectacular catch in left on the first batter of the game but banged the back of his head against the wall and had to be taken from the field on a stretcher. Concussion tests proved negative but Dominguez suffered a “mild AC joint sprain in his left shoulder” and will be out a couple of weeks, according to manager Aaron Boone. Spencer Jones will be called up to replace him.

“He’s seeing decent, when we got out there, coherent and all that,” said Boone afterwards about Dominguez.

“Gosh he’s just such a good kid,” added Boone when asked why The Martian is so popular in the Yankee clubhouse — after a number of Yankees ran out to see if he was ok. “There’s a kind of joy that he walks to every day; no matter what is going on. He’s very consistent in who he is; they love him in there. Another layer is as well as being a really good guy and good teammate — seeing the way he handled spring training going in, and the numbers game not working for him; having a good spring; going to AAA, playing well, earning his way back here; in the lineup, contributing right away. It’s kind of neat when good people are rewarded like that.”

NY takes 2 of 3 from Texas and improves to 26-12, tied with Atlanta for the best record in baseball — but only .5 ahead of Tampa which won again in the evening; they are now 13-1 in their last 14.

1. The Martian Makes Great Catch in 1st — Hits Wall HARD

Paul Blackburn started and first batter of the game Brandon Nimmo ripped a line drive to left that The Martian made a great catch on — but banged HARD into the wall backing up — his head and shoulder taking the brunt of it. He had to be taken off the field on a cart.

The Yanks moved Cody Bellinger from right to left, moved Amed Rosario from 3rd to right, and brought in Ryan McMahon to play 3rd.

Blackburn then walked Duran — but J.C. Escarra threw Duran out trying to steal 2nd. Blackburn then walked Corey Seager, and hit Josh Jung with a pitch — before getting Joc Pederson to ground out to end the 1st. About as rocky a 1st inning as you can have but escaped with 0 runs.

2. Yanks Take Lead on Goldy, Belly Triples in 1st

MacKenzie Gore, a 27-year-old, 6’2 lefty started for the Rangers on the BRIGHT SUNSHINE Thursday afternoon and he ran into trouble in the bottom of the 1st when leadoff batter Paul Goldschmidt tripled to right, Aaron Judge lined out to 3rd, and Cody Bellinger hit a shot to right that Joc Pederson dove for but missed — the ball going all the way to the wall for another triple and 1-0 Yankee lead.

3. Rookie Beck Does Good

Brendan Beck came in for the 2nd inning, making his first MLB appearance. It was by “opener” design — Beck is a starter and the strategy is to have him not face the top of the order in the 1st, but come in for the 2nd thru middle innings — thereby not having to face the top of the order more than twice.

Who is Brendan Beck? He is the Yankees’ #22 prospect — not that high — a starter with a 2-2 5.11 record at Scranton. But he has pedigree — he was the Yanks’ 2nd-round pick of the 2021 MLB Draft out of Stanford where he went 9-3 3.15 as a senior in 2021. He’s had several arm surgeries since then, including Tommy John surgery, and is now 27 years old.

Despite the 2-2 5.11 record at Scranton Beck pitched well in his last start and was scheduled to pitch on Thursday — so with Weathers under the weather, here he was.

Beck was good, throwing a 94-MPH four-seam fastball and sinker, and 83-MPH slider. He pitched a shutout 2nd, got clipped for a solo HR by Ezequiel Duran in the 3rd, and pitched a shutout 4th (single, groundout, fly out, fly out).

Beck walked the first batter of the 5th — Alejandro Osuna — and was relieved by Tim Hill. Osuna would come around to score and be charged to Beck — as Hill allowed a single to Brandon Nimmo and RBI groundout to Duran for a 2-1 Texas lead.

4. Grisham 3-RBI Double Big Hit of 6-Run 6th

Meanwhile — after the 2 triples in the 1st — MacKenzie Gore gored through the Yankee lineup — working around a leadoff double by Ryan McMahon in the 2nd, and then retiring 8 in a row for a shutout 2nd and 3rd.

He got the first 2 outs of the 4th before walking a Red-Hot Ryan McMahon and allowing an infield single to Grisham, but got the final out and threw a 1-2-3 inning in the 5th — taking a 2-1 lead to the 6th.

And that’s when the Yanks got their machine guns out and gored Gore — a leadoff walk to Cody Bellinger, a single by Amed Rosario, a popout by Jazz Chisholm Jr. and a walk by Red-Hot Ryan McMahon loaded the bases.

And Trent Grisham unloaded them with a 3-RBI double to left turning the 2-1 game Texas favor into a 4-2 Yankee lead.

Jalen Beeks came in for Gore and got a strikeout but then allowed an RBI single to J.C. Escarra for a 5-2 Yankee lead.

Cole Winn relieved Beeks, and Aaron Judge greeted him with an RBI single to left and it was 6-2 NY.

Cody Bellinger added an RBI single to left and NY was up 7-2.

5. Yanks Add Insurance Runs in 7th and 8th

NY picked up an insurance run in the 7th off Tyler Alexander — singles by Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Trent Grisham, and an RBI double by Max Schuemann made it 8-2 NY.

NY got another run in the 8th — a leadoff single by Cody Bellinger plated by guess who — the Red Hot Ryan McMahon — with a 2-out single to center for a 9-2 game.

6. Yank Pen Finishes with 5 Shutout Innings

Meanwhile the Yankee pen was amazing again.

  • Tim Hill got 2 outs in the 6th and was relieved by Brent Headrick who got the final out and then pitched a shutot 7th.
  • Jake Bird pitched a shutout 8th, allowing just a 1-out walk.
  • And Camilo Doval pitched a shutout 9th — allowing 2 singles sandwiching an out, then getting a strikeout and line out for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401815248

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