Deep in the heart of Texas, the Yankees’ bats shone big and bright against Jack Leiter and the Rangers, and Gerrit Cole put up another quality start before exiting with a cramp in an 8-4 triumph. The Bombers won by the strength of the five-run rally they pieced together in the sixth inning. Gleyber Torres set the tone with three hits and two RBI, Anthony Rizzo and Aaron Judge drove in big runs in that big sixth, and Giancarlo Stanton sealed the deal with a home run.

Cole got into brief trouble in the first inning, but navigated the jam expertly, striking out Nathaniel Lowe on the outside corner to strand two. He entered the second with a vengeance, striking out two more with a pair of sparkling heaters. Leiter was equal to the task, navigating hard contact in the first before shutting down the middle of the lineup with a dominant 1-2-3 second.

The Yankees’ lineup found its first opening against the young righty Leiter in the third inning. Anthony Volpe, facing his Delbarton teammate for the first time in MLB play, took his first pitch to right field, and Alex Verdugo legged out an infield hit(!) on a chopper to third. Up came the confident Gleyber, who singled to lead off the game. He took a 3-1 slider high for an apparent walk, but Bruce Dreckman called it a strike. Undeterred, Torres stepped back into the box and ripped Leiter’s next offering into the left-center gap to plate both runners for a 2-0 Yankee advantage.

The next half-inning, the Rangers scratched together a payback run. With Marcus Semien on first, former Yankee farmhand Josh Smith slashed a hit into the left center gap. Upon fielding the ball, Judge hesitated and double-pumped, and Semien never stopped running to score from first. Smith pulled in at second with a hustle double to halve the New York lead.

In the fifth, Volpe faced Leiter again and crushed a slider deep to left field. It looked for a moment like it might go, but Wyatt Langford snagged it up against the wall. The two Jersey kids exchanged sheepish smiles as Volpe jogged back to the dugout.

The third-time-through-the-order penalty came home to roost for Leiter and the Rangers in the sixth. Torres legged out an infield hit for three hits in three tries against the righty, then Soto laced one right up the middle to set the table for Judge. Back in the first he smoked a 111.4 mph screamer into Langford’s glove. This time he collected his due, with a 110.7 mph rope bouncing just fair down the left field line for an RBI double and chasing Leiter from the game.

Journeyman reliever Chase Anderson entered with two in scoring position and promptly gave the Yankees a scare by nailing Austin Wells squarely on the wrist. Wells stayed in the game, and with the bases loaded Jazz Chisholm smoked a single to right to score Soto. Rizzo then neatly deposited the next pitch just fair down the left field line to score two, bouncing into the stands for an automatic double.

For good measure, Anderson then tossed one in the dirt that squeaked past catcher Jonah Heim for a wild pitch which scored Chisholm from third. All nine New York hitters took a turn in the frame before Verdugo’s popout retired the side.

That offensive breakthrough was a welcome sight. Over the past week or so, the Yankees have missed their opportunities to punish struggling opposing pitchers, but tonight they stayed disciplined and took great cuts for sparkling results. If the Yankees can keep that up, their lineup will start to feel endless for opposing pitchers.

Cole pitched a quick and clean sixth inning, though his velocity was down. When he came out for the seventh, he only made a few warm-up pitches before summoning the training staff and leaving the game. Something with his plant leg was clearly bothering him, and he knew he couldn’t push it. That cut short another great outing in which he went six deep with nine strikeouts and only one run allowed on four hits.

David Cone hypothesized on the broadcast that he might just be cramping up and his diagnosis was accurate. This is great news for the Yankees, who need Cole to be healthy to spearhead their playoff rotation.

Luke Weaver relieved Cole and surrendered a long home run to Langford to make it 7-3. He allowed another loud sound from Semien right to the edge of the track—essentially to the same spot as Volpe’s wall-scraper back in the fifth. Just as dark thoughts started to creep into Yankee fans’ brains, Giancarlo Stanton wiped them away with a mighty clout over the center field wall for his 25th home run.

The 418-foot shot also marks the 427th of his career, pushing him out of a tie with Cubs legend Billy Williams and into a new one with another Hall of Famer, Mike Piazza. Only 50 players in MLB history have hit more home runs than Giancarlo Cruz-Michael Stanton.

Since he had only thrown eight pitches in the previous six days combined, Clay Holmes entered with one on and one out in the ninth inning to get some work in. He promptly allowed a double to Langford to make things interesting; the late innings are endlessly interesting this year.

Holmes then exchanged a run for an out on a grounder by Heim before walking Taveras to flip the lineup over. Thankfully, Gleyber Torres made a marvelous play on a Semien shot up the middle to secure that elusive 27th out (simultaneously stranding the potential tying run, Seager, in the on-deck circle). It was an appropriate end to a great night for the Yankees’ second baseman, who led the charge on offense tonight.

New York avoided losing first place to Baltimore with this victory since the Orioles won as well, but don’t breathe too comfortably. The Yanks took the opener of each of their last two series before dropping the next two games. They will look to prevent that from happening again tomorrow in another southpaw showdown. Carlos Rodón will face Andrew Heaney in the middle game; first pitch is scheduled for 8:05pm ET on YES.