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While the Yankees’ Monday night game in Texas was never a blowout, much of it felt like it was trending towards a fairly comfortable Bombers win. Ben Rice and Aaron Judge continued to be stalwarts in the Yankees’ lineup, each going deep to help build up a lead. Meanwhile on the mound, starter Max Fried was pretty stellar. He ended up going six innings, keeping the Rangers off the board, having allowed four hits and two walks. One of the runners he allowed even ended up the victim of one of his trademark pickoffs.

However, after Fried departed, the bullpen let things get way too close for comfort, as is they tend to do. In both the eighth and ninth innings, Texas brought the tying run to the plate. In the ninth, they even had the winning run up.

Eventually though, the bullpen got the required outs, as the Yankees picked up yet another victory on their road trip, downing the Rangers 4-2.

After getting kept off the board in the first two innings, it seemed like the Yankees had missed a chance in the third when José Caballero got caught trying to steal second for the second out of the inning. However, Trent Grisham kept the inning alive with a single that deflected off pitcher Jack Leiter and to safety. Rice and Judge then went back to back, drawing first blood on the game.

Rice’s blast tied Judge for the team lead with 10, and amusingly, the dead heat lasted only a couple moments because Judge followed with his own clout.

The following inning Jazz Chisholm Jr. got in on the action and continued his recent run with another homer.

Fried exited after six innings, as the Yankees went to the bullpen to start the seventh. That was also where the shutout ended. Camilo Doval came in and allowed a one-out solo home run to Joc Pederson for Texas’ first run of the game.

Tim Hill came in for the eighth and ran into some trouble. He issued walks to Ezequiel Duran and Josh Jung, allowing the Rangers to bring the tying run to the plate. Said tying run came up in the form of Corey Seager, who Hill got to ground out, but it was a bit of a hot shot.

With David Bednar on the hill, the ninth then got off to another scary start. Jake Burger reached on what was ruled a single to start the inning, after Chisholm got to a grounder but didn’t have much of a play on and threw wide. Pederson then seemingly also reached in not unsimilar circumstances, but Chisholm successfully threw to first on that play and on review, it turned out that the throw beat Pederson to the bag.

Bednar than came back and struck out Kyle Higashioka, but things got even closer after that.

After Josh Smith hit yet another grounder to Chisholm, the second baseman committed an error after booting it. Alejandro Osuna came up next and dinked a single into center. That scored one run and brought the potential winning run to the plate. Bednar finally managed to finish things off there, inducing a grounder to short that José Caballero safely fielded and threw to second for the final out.

With that, the Yankees bounced back from their Sunday loss and have now won nine of their last ten. They’ll try to keep that going tomorrow, when the Yankees and Rangers will continue their series tomorrow night at 8:05 pm ET. Cam Schlittler and Jacob deGrom are expected to be the starters for that one.

Box Score

ARLINGTON, Texas — Aaron Judge is no stranger to showing up next to the all-time greats in the Yankees record book.

Now he is bringing Ben Rice with him.

Rice and Judge crushed back-to-back homers in the third inning Monday night, joining select Yankee company and providing the jet fuel for a 4-2 win over the Rangers at Globe Life Field.

With Rice’s 10th home run of the year and Judge’s 11th, they became only the second pair of Yankees teammates to each hit 10-plus home runs in the team’s first 29 games of a season, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.

The other was Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle in 1956.

“I’m glad I don’t have to face them, let’s just put it that way,” said Max Fried, who delivered six more shutout innings. “Those are two of the best hitters in the game.”

Jazz Chisholm Jr. also homered, continuing to heat up, as the Yankees (19-10) won for the ninth time in their past 10 games.

Judge has had a few different wingmen over the years, including Giancarlo Stanton and Juan Soto, but now Rice looks like the latest as the two sluggers have been on a tear to start the season — their combined 21 home runs more than the Giants, Brewers, Mets and Red Sox each have as a team.

Judge’s long ball was just part of his big night, as he added a pair of doubles and was hit by a pitch, raising his OPS to 1.010 — which still trails Rice’s 1.191, both in the top four of the majors.

“Tremendous,” manager Aaron Boone said of the duo. “Obviously Benny’s off to an amazing start. Judgey’s a ho-hum 11 homers already. Maybe his best game of at-bats tonight, where he’s on all four times, stings two doubles, smokes the homer. It’s a pretty good combo there.”

At least for a few minutes, Rice tied Judge for the team lead in homers when he crushed a two-run shot off Jack Leiter in the third inning.

The first baseman went the other way for a 404-foot blast, showing impressive opposite-field power for his sixth home run in his past 11 games.

Judge then one-upped Rice and clobbered a 414-footer at 113 mph off the bat, landing right around where his record-setting 62nd home run did in left field here in 2022.

“Man, [Rice’s] ball was pummeled,” Boone said. “This is a ballpark, they’ll tell you, it doesn’t yield a lot of home runs. To hit a line drive into the bullpen the other way, impressive. The only thing more impressive was the [113] breaking ball that Judgey rifled into the seats right after him.

“That was a little bit of a, ‘Hold [my] beer’ moment.”

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Rice said that after Judge got back to the dugout, the three-time AL MVP joked, “I’m not going to let Benny catch me.”

“So just trying to keep him honest, keep him motivated,” Rice said with a grin. “He’s getting a little complacent, so.”

Judge said he has been most impressed by the consistency of Rice’s at-bats.

“It’s must-watch TV at this point,” Judge said. “Benny Rice has been our sparkplug all year and he’s going to continue to do that.”

An inning later, Chisholm joined the home run parade, swatting his third in the past five games — after going 23 games without one to start the year — to put the Yankees ahead 4-0, marking the third time in the last four games that the Yankees hit at least three home runs.

That was plenty of support for Fried, who did not allow a run for the fourth time in seven starts this season.

Coming off eight shutout innings against the Red Sox, Fried turned in six scoreless frames against the Rangers (14-15) in which he scattered four singles and two walks while striking out five.

He also became the fourth straight Yankees starter to record a pickoff, which has only been done one other time in franchise history.

“We worked really hard on it in spring training and we’ve been executing well so far,” Fried said. “Really proud of them and I know they’ve been taking it very seriously.”

Rays sideline reporter Ryan Bass is being praised for stepping in to brighten a young Guardians fan’s night after she had a home run ball wrestled away from her by a grown man in an embarrassing display during Monday’s game against Cleveland.

The man eventually gave the ball back to the young girl several innings later, Nikki DeVoe, the girl’s mother, revealed in a Facebook post late Monday night.

The moment was captured by the Rays broadcast during the bottom of the fifth inning after the Guardians’ Daniel Schneemann hit a two-run home run to right field at Progressive Field.

The adult fan bobbled the catch of the home run, and it landed right near a young girl, who was coming down the steps to try and get the souvenir — leading the man to wrestle the ball away from her while it was on the ground. 

After a grown man wrestles a HR ball away from a little girl, @Ry_Bass is there to make the situation right.

to my guy. pic.twitter.com/jan6BDmWfG

— Evan Closky (@ECloskyWTSP) April 27, 2026

The scene left Rays broadcasters Andrew Freed and Brian Anderson stunned. 

One of the broadcasters, while on air, implored, “Give that ball back.”

That’s when Bass sprang into action to make the sad situation a bit better, later appearing in the outfield stands with a baseball for the girl — bringing a smile to her face before she began to cry after Bass walked away. 

“Just exercising all of that bonus girl dad energy,” Bass posted on X while re-sharing a clip of the exchange. 

He appeared to have also gone back and taken a photo with the young Guardians fan, her mom and her brother, as the two siblings smiled and each held up baseballs. 

“Baseball is the best! What a sweet little family,” he wrote on social media.

The Rays broadcast reported seeing the girl’s brother attempt to go up to the man and ask for the ball back for his sister, and DeVore later confirmed in the social media post that it indeed took place.

“You know my son went to ask him for the ball, which was so brave,” she wrote in the post.

DeVore used the post to express her profound gratitude for the kindness that she and her family received during the ordeal.

In particular, she thanked Bass.

“I just have to say thank you to Tampa for broadcasting it, when Cleveland broadcast cut to puppies rather than show the man stealing the ball from a child,” she wrote. “child. I cannot thank Ryan and Tampa enough for making things right. Thank you all for looking out for ALL young baseball fans. It is top notch sportsmanship. My daughter and I cried happy tears. I am so proud of my kids for how they handled tonight, and so proud of Tampa and its fans for standing up for my child.

“The pressure resulted in the man giving her the home run ball back 4-5 innings later towards the end of the game. It wasn’t the same but we appreciated him doing the right thing. But we appreciate all of you even more.”

The incident on Monday over the ball is the first viral moment of such magnitude this baseball season.

Last season, an unidentified woman went viral after she berated a father for a Harrison Bader home run ball that he was giving to his son during a Phillies-Marlins game in Miami on Sept. 5. 

The Rays went on to win the game 3-2.

The Yankees will officially be without Giancarlo Stanton for the next few games. 

The slugger is hitting the IL with a low-grade calf strain, Aaron Boone announced following Monday's win. 

Boone had said pregame that the team wasn't sure if Stanton would have to be forced to the sidelines, as they were still awaiting results from an MRI on that right calf. 

Those tests appear to have confirmed the prognosis, and he'll now be down at least 10 days. 

Boone wasn't ready to put an exact timeline on a potential return to the lineup just yet, but he did share that the team is optimistic Stanton shouldn't miss too much time.  

"Doesn't look too serious, but enough to to not want to wait a couple more days," he said. "We'll see what we have as the week unfolds -- hopefully not too long, but we'll see."

For now, recently recalled youngster Jasson Dominguez figures to have a massive opportunity to show he deserves to stick back up with the big-league club. 

Dominguez has been on-fire to start the season down in Triple-A, and he carried over that success on Monday, picking up a knock in four at-bats in his first game back in the majors. 

He's set to start the next two games in Texas with righties on the mound, then Boone will take it from there. 

While Dominguez served as the DH on Monday, the skipper expects to get him some outfield reps during the week.

"You call up a guy like Dominguez who can DH, play some outfield for us, it's gonna be huge," Aaron Judge said. "He's been raking in Triple-A. He's a guy who upset not making the team out of camp, and I think he's gonna show up here ready to prove some people wrong and kind of send a message, so I'm excited about it."

The Texas Rangers scored two runs but the New York Yankees scored four runs.

In the span of four hitters between the third and fourth innings, the Yankees hit three home runs off an otherwise cruising Jack Leiter, two of them with two outs in the third and one to lead off the fourth.

Suddenly and without warning it was a 4-0 game and it seemed quite unlikely that they’d score more than that against Max Fried (and they didn’t) so here we are with the Rangers below .500.

I don’t want to research how many runs the Rangers have allowed with two outs because I’m not donating more time to them tonight but it surely feels like it’s been like 90%.

Anyway, Leiter adjusted and eventually had an otherwise decent outing to give Texas six innings of work, but you know, turning the game into the Home Run Derby for a spell probably won’t get you many wins and certainly not when you need the Rangers to score you more than a couple of runs in Arlington.

Player of the Game: Joc Pederson hit a baseball with the barrel of his bat for the first time this season which produced a home run for Texas’ only extra base hit on the night.

Also, hat tip to Peyton Gray who came in and absorbed two more scoreless innings as his big league ERA remains all zeroes.

Up Next: The Rangers and Yankees will be back at it tomorrow night with RHP Jacob deGrom set to make the start for Texas opposite RHP Cam Schlittler for New York.

The Tuesday evening first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 7:05 pm CDT and will be carried on the Rangers Sports Network.

The Yankees opened the series with a 4-2 win over the Rangers on Monday night at Globe Life Field.

Here are some takeaways...

- Jack Leiter started his night retiring five of the first six batters he faced, but the Yankees jumped all over him the second time through the order. After Trent Grisham legged out a two-out infield single, Ben Rice crushed his 10th homer of the season to the deepest part of the ballpark, then Aaron Judge immediately followed that with a solo shot. 

- Rice's homer was his 10th of the season, and it put the Yankees' new dynamic duo up there with some pretty prestigious company, as they joined Yogi Berra and Mikey Mantle as the only pair of teammates in franchise history with 10+ homers over the first 29 games of the season.

They were also just the third pair of teammates in MLB history to reach that mark in April.  

- New York would add on against Leiter just a few batters later, as Jazz Chisholm Jr. led off the top of the fourth with a towering solo homer of his own. The blast, which left the bat at a whopping 106.7 mph, traveled 406 feet deep into the seats in right and is Chisholm's third over his last seven games. 

The lefty slugger has been scorching, hitting .370 with a 1.118 OPS over that span. 

- Max Fried pitched well against a Rangers lineup that's struggled against lefties all season. He worked around hits in the first and second, before putting together his first clean inning after being handed the lead in the third. Fried gave up a leadoff hit in the fourth, but immediately erased him with his 38th career pickoff, the most in baseball since 2018. 

The southpaw needed just six pitches to breeze his way through an seamless fifth. He gave up a leadoff single in the sixth, but Brandon Nimmo smoked a double-play ball right at Jose Caballero to help Fried end his night on a hight note. He gave up just four hits and walked two while striking out five over six scoreless innings. 

Fried has now completed six innings in all but one of his seven outings on the season. 

- Texas was able to get on the board against Camilo Doval in the bottom of the seventh, as Joc Pederson came off the bench and smashed a solo shot the other way to deep left-center. Doval's ERA is up to 6.97 and he's allowed homers in three of his last four outings. 

- Tim Hill was a bit shaky, issuing a pair of walks in the eighth, but he was able to get Corey Seager to sharply groundout to second representing the tying run at the plate. 

- David Bednar struggled in the ninth as well, as Texas brought in their second run of the game after a Chisholm error prolonged the inning. Ezequiel Duran came to the plate at the winning-run, but the Yankee closer got him to groundout and locked down his eighth save of the season. 

- Judge reached safely in all four of his plate appearances on the night. He was hit by a pitch in the first, lifted the homer behind Rice in the third, then doubled his next two turns up. The captain is now hitting .294 with eight home runs, 12 RBI, and a 1.298 OPS over his last 15 games.

- Jasson Dominguez struck out then grounded out in his first two at-bats back in the big leagues, but he worked a full count before lacing a one out single the other way in the top of the sixth. With righties on the mound, the youngster is expected to start all three games this series. 

- Ryan McMahon pushed his hitting streak to four games with a two out single against Leiter in the fourth. 

Game MVP: Aaron Judge

The captain was right in the middle of things for New York, reaching four times in the victory.

Highlights

A 2-run homer to left-center for Ben Rice!

404 feet! pic.twitter.com/4Rz1fOhSWO

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 28, 2026

Aaron Judge goes back-to-back with Ben Rice! 💪💪 pic.twitter.com/OBnYH13VNu

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 28, 2026

Jazz Chisholm Jr. blasts the Yankees’ third homer of the night! pic.twitter.com/j5ZQ9LGLb8

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 28, 2026

What's next

Two of the American League's top arms to start the season face-off, as Cam Schlittler (3-1, 1.77 ERA) takes the ball against Jacob deGrom (2-0, 2.13 ERA) on Tuesday at 8:05 p.m.

The old saying in baseball is you win 50, lose 50, and it’s what you do with the rest that counts, but what the adage doesn’t take into account is the number of games that are Cursèd. For the Seattle Mariners, those Cursèd Games seem to usually happen in spring in the Midwest, or in Angel Stadium. Tonight’s game might have started on time, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t start Cursèd.

Luis Castillo did not do anything to beat the warm-weather-pitching allegations, surrendering seven runs, although not all of them were entirely his fault; the Twins got their first run on a wacky send of slow-footed Josh Bell from first after Rob Refsnyder couldn’t get a clean handle on the soggy ball, which had rolled itself under the padding in right field. A good relay from Cole Young almost had Bell out at the plate, but Mitch Garver couldn’t get the tag down cleanly, putting the Twins ahead 1-0.

The damage could have been much worse, as Castillo ran into trouble after that; he gave up back-to-back free passes to load the bases, once that wasn’t his fault (Matt Wallner leaning his pantleg into a slider) and once that was (walking the nine-hole hitter Tristan Gray), but got Byron Buxton to pop out to strand the bases loaded. But that aforementioned worse damage came in the third inning. Julio Rodríguez misplayed a ball hit deep to center, allowing a one-out triple to Trevor Larnach, and then Castillo walked Bell despite having him in a 1-2 count. Ryan Jeffers singled to bring home Larnach, and then Kody Clemens, my least favorite Twin and that includes both Winklevosses, turnt-and-burnt on an inside fastball for a three-run home run.

The beatings would continue but morale would not improve with a two-run homer from Byron Buxton in the fourth. Castillo managed to scrape through one more scoreless inning to at least give the bullpen a slightly smaller elephant to eat, but the hole was well and thoroughly dug.

Meanwhile, the offense struggled against Twins rookie Connor Prielipp and his dastardly slider; he took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, when his command finally flagged and the Mariners were able to small-ball a couple of runs off him with the bottom of the order once again producing. Shoutout to Mitch Garver, who quietly had a very good game on both sides of the ball, once again winning a clutch ABS challenge that turned into a strikeout and maybe bought Castillo an extra inning of work. The Twins bullpen, which is Not Good, took over from there, but the Mariners hitters were punchless against Andrew Morris in the sixth and seventh.

Cole Wilcox, still putting in his time in the former Eduard Bazardo role, drew the first assignment out of the ‘pen for multi-inning mop-up duty, and just in case you had forgotten this game was Cursèd, what should have been an inning-ending groundout instead bounced off the bag at second base for an RBI infield single instead, making it 8-2. As Angie pointed out on the broadcast, J.P.’s face was all of our faces after that.

Wilcox came back out for the seventh but issued a leadoff walk (bad Cole!) and a one-out infield single (not his fault on this rice paddy of an infield), and for some reason Dan Wilson decided that this was the moment to deploy Alex Hoppe for his big-league debut, and once again: you must hand it to Dan. In a rare feel-good moment for this game, Hoppe came out and demolished the first two big-league hitters he faced; Matt Wallner was so flummoxed by Hoppe’s vicious stuff he blew the Twins’ last challenge challenging Alex Hoppe’s first thrown MLB pitch, only to go on to strike out, which is the appropriate punishment for such tacky behavior. Hoppe then struck out Tristan Gray to end the inning.

The vibes threatened to turn positive after that, as the Mariners hitters finally got to Morris: Rob Refsnyder singled (yay Rob!) and Cal Raleigh checked in with his seventh homer of the season, a towering blast to right field:

But that’s all the fun this game had to offer. Hoppe wasn’t as sharp in his second inning of work despite becoming the first Mariners reliever in team history to open his Mariners career with three straight strikeouts and gave up a couple more runs; Hoppe’s command remains a work in progress, but hey, he’s not learning anything on the bench, so at least this game offered an opportunity for his debut. Unfortunately, this might be another case of bad sequencing for the Mariners, as the Twins send their ace Joe Ryan to the mound tomorrow, matching up against Logan Gilbert. Just keep the field dry and maybe pass a little black tourmaline over the mound pregame.