The New York Yankees suffered a crushing 7-4 loss to the Texas Rangers tonight, letting a late lead slip through their fingers in the most dramatic fashion. Despite a solid showing from their lineup in the later innings, the Yankees’ bullpen squandered a Carlos Rodón gem, ultimately falling on a walk-off grand slam by Wyatt Langford that sealed the game for Texas. This defeat marks another chapter in what has been a peculiar season for the Yankees, as they remain in prime playoff position despite a long string of absolutely maddening losses.

The game began as a pitchers’ duel, with both teams struggling to generate offense in the early innings. The Yankees had a quiet start, managing just a lone double from Gleyber Torres in the third inning. Texas starter Andrew Heaney kept New York’s hitters off balance, mixing his pitches effectively and keeping the Yankees off the scoreboard through the first five innings.

Rodón, on the other hand, was solid on the mound for the Yankees, working his way through the Rangers’ lineup with relative ease. However, Josh Jung managed to break through in the fourth inning, launching a solo homer to left-center field to give Texas a 1-0 lead. It was a frustrating moment for Rodón, who had otherwise been in control, but it wouldn’t be the last time Jung made an impact on the game.

New York finally broke through in the seventh inning with José Leclerc on the mound for Texas. It started with Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s single to lead off the frame, and Anthony Volpe followed with a single of his own to set the stage for a critical sequence. A balk by Leclerc advanced the runners, putting them in scoring position with no outs. Jose Trevino then grounded out to deep shortstop, allowing Chisholm to score and tie the game at 1-1.

Andrew Chafin relieved Leclerc, but the Yankees took the lead. The much-maligned Alex Verdugo stepped up with a single to right field, bringing Volpe home and giving New York a 2-1 advantage. The Yankees weren’t done yet, as DJ LeMahieu followed with a single to keep the inning alive, but Torres grounded out to end the threat.

It would be so nice to simply focus most of this recap on what Rodón did. That Jung dinger was really the only mistake he made. His line was pristine otherwise aside from a pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch. Rodón set a new personal high for his Yankees career by striking out 11 Rangers on 99 pitches across 6 innings.

Alas, we must discuss worse pitching performances.

In the eighth inning, the Yankees extended their lead (before the fall) thanks to more heroics from Volpe. After Torres walked and Juan Soto grounded into a force out, Aaron Judge singled. Giancarlo Stanton struck out, but Chisholm came through with a single to right to load the bases for Volpe. The young shortstop delivered a clutch two-run single, driving in Soto and Judge to push the Yankees’ lead to 4-1.

Volpe, who has rapidly become a fan favorite in the Bronx, then stole second base to put himself in scoring position, though Trevino’s strikeout ended the inning.

The Rangers, however, were not done. In the bottom of the eighth, Josh Smith reached first when LeMahieu somehow lost his chopper in the lights, leading to an error on what should’ve been an easy play.

Marcus Semien followed with a well-placed infield single to put runners on first and second. Langford struck out swinging, but Jung continued his big night with an RBI single, cutting the Yankees’ lead to 4-2. A walk to Adolis García loaded the bases, and Tim Hill was brought in to relieve the scuffling Jake Cousins and face Nathaniel Lowe. Hill allowed a deep sacrifice fly from Lowe, which scored Semien to make it a one-run game. However, he did fan pinch-hitter Jonah Heim to escape the inning with the Yankees still clinging to a 4-3 lead.

The ninth inning proved to be the Yankees’ ultimate undoing. Clay Holmes was called upon to secure the win, but the Rangers mounted a comeback. Travis Jankowski, pinch-hitting for Ezequiel Duran, grounded out to start the inning, but Carson Kelly singled to give Texas life. Leody Taveras then entered as a pinch-runner and immediately stole second base, putting the tying run in scoring position. Holmes badly struggled with his control while walking Smith and Semien to load the bases with just one out. The tension in the stadium was palpable as Langford stepped to the plate.

With the game on the line, Holmes put up an absolute dud of a sequence:

Baseball Savant

As noted by David Cone on the YES Network broadcast, Holmes had no semblance of command on any of his pitches. They just kept bouncing or missing badly. He hung one slide on 3-1 that he was lucky to see Langford foul off.

The next pitch, however, was also a slider that sat right over the plate, and Langford didn’t miss.

The walk-off grand slam brought the game to a sudden end while simultaneously crushing our hopeful Yankee hearts tonight. The Rangers’ dugout erupted in celebration as the Yankees watched another winnable game slip away. The loss was a tough pill to swallow for New York, who had every opportunity to lock this one down. Yet their shoddy bullpen let it leak away again, with little help from the defense, and this marked Holmes’ 11th blown save. Yikes.

New York will look to bounce back tomorrow, hoping to avoid a series loss against Texas. They’re out of first place, as the Orioles took a half-game lead by walloping the White Sox. First pitch for the Marcus Stroman vs. Nathan Eovaldi rubber match is scheduled for 8:05pm EDT, with the Yankees aiming to regroup and put this humiliating loss behind them.