Corey Seager and rookie Cody Bradford lead Rangers past Yankees 9-4 for a doubleheader split

NEW YORK -- — Corey Seager homered and rookie Cody Bradford pitched five strong innings as the Texas Rangers beat the New York Yankees 9-4 to earn a doubleheader split on Saturday.

Rookie Wyatt Langford had two hits and stole a base, and Adolis García finished the doubleheader with five hits and an RBI as Texas snapped a three-game skid in the two-game set that resulted from a rainout on Friday

“Pretty cool,” Seager said of his first homer at Yankee Stadium. He grew up a fan of the Yankees, and his parents grew up in upstate New York, with his father playing collegiately at Fairleigh Dickinson University, which is less than 10 miles from Yankee Stadium.

In the opener, Carlos Rodón scattered three hits over 5 2/3 innings and Austin Wells drove in four runs in the Yankees’ 8-0 win. Aaron Judge drove in his major league-leading 105th run and reached base four times. García and Josh Jung had two hits apiece for Texas.

The victory in Game 2 was the fourth in 14 games for the Rangers, who are 6 1/2 games behind AL West frontrunners Houston and Seattle. The Astros defeated the Red Sox 5-4 and Seattle hosts the Mets later Saturday.

“That’s more our baseball,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “It’s been frustrating because we haven’t clicked.”

Giancarlo Stanton and Jazz Chisolm Jr. homered in the second game for New York, which slipped a half-game behind Baltimore in the American League East and for the best record in AL. The Orioles take on Tampa Bay later Saturday. Chisolm made a costly mental mistake at third base in the loss.

Seager’s 25th homer of the season highlighted a five-run sixth inning. Nathaniel Lowe and García had consecutive singles with one out. Leody Tavares hit a sinking line drive to right. Juan Soto dove and initially appeared to make the catch, but the ball fell out of his glove as he hit the ground. Soto threw to the infield and Gleyber Torres alertly threw to third base. Lowe was initially called out at third, but the ruling was overturned after Chisolm’s back foot came off the side of the bag as he tried to tag the runner instead of accepting the force out.

“I thought they called it a catch, so I was really looking for the double play,” Chisolm said.

Seager said: “We got a break at third and it kind of changed from there.”

In the sixth, Luke Weaver (4-3) walked Carson Kelly to force in a run and Josh Smith added a sacrifice fly. Seager then drove Weaver’s next pitch into the stands in right to break the game open.

Texas’ offensive outburst in the sixth spoiled a strong effort by Yankees starter Gerrit Cole. The 33-year-old right-hander allowed an RBI single to García and struck out a season-high 10 over 5 1/3 innings in one of his best starts after missing the first 75 games of the season with nerve inflammation and edema in his right elbow.

Bradford, whose family traveled from Texas for the start, matched Cole in his second start after missing over three months with a back injury and a rib fracture. Making his first start against the Yankees, Bradford (4-0) matched his season best with seven strikeouts and allowed one run.

“Today was a real dream come true, pitching at Yankee Stadium,” he said.

The Yankees scored three times against Gerson Garabito in the eighth. Judge worked a two-out walk before Stanton drove a 2-0 pitch 451 feet for his 19th home run of the season.

Chisolm homered in both games. He has seven homers in 12 games since joining New York. He had 13 homers in 101 games with Miami.

In the opener, New York chased Texas starter Nathan Eovaldi (8-6) after three innings when the right-hander was pulled for precautionary reasons with tightness in his right side.

Rodón (13-7) yielded three hits, walked five and struck out six in his eighth start allowing one run or fewer.

Relievers Ron Marinaccio and Tim Hill combined for three strikeouts and completed the five-hitter, marking the Yankees’ eighth shutout of the season.

GAME RECOGNIZES GAME

WNBA star Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever and boyfriend Connor McCaffrey were on the field for batting practice. Clark, on a WNBA-wide Olympic break, sported a No. 22 Yankees jersey and signed a few autographs. She posed for a clubhouse picture with Aaron Judge before the slugger signed a custom jersey. She also took a picture with Jung and former Chicago Cub and current Yankee Anthony Rizzo. Clark is a lifelong Cubs fan who was making her first trip to Yankee Stadium. “She was impressive,” New York manager Aaron Boone said. “It was fun to see the amount of our guys that were star-struck being around her.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Yankees: SS Anthony Volpe played in both games after leaving Thursday night’s game after fouling a ball off his left foot. He went 0 for 5 in the two games. … RHP Clarke Schmidt (right lat strain) and RHP Cody Poteet (right triceps strain) each threw 25 pitches against hitters in a live BP session. … C Jose Trevino (left quad strain) will begin a rehab assignment Sunday. … OF Trent Grisham remained in the game after getting hit on the left hand by a 96 mph fastball in the fourth inning. He did exit for a defensive replacement in the fifth. Initial CT scans and X-rays were negative and Grisham was diagnosed with a left hand contusion.

Rangers: RHP Jacob deGrom’s live BP session on Thursday went “really well,” according to reports Bochy received. He will throw again in Boston as he continues his recovery from 2023 Tommy John surgery.

UP NEXT

New York’s Marcus Stroman (7-6, 4.10 ERA) faces LHP Andrew Heaney (4-11, 3.98) in the series finale. Stroman is coming off his worst start of the season, allowing seven earned runs over 2 2/3 innings. Heaney is tied for the AL lead in losses.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb