Rangers-Yankees preview
NEW YORK -- The Texas Rangers have achieved numerous things this season.
One thing they were not able to get due to a large bullpen collapse Wednesday was tie a club record with their 21st win in June.
The Rangers will look to set that mark and rebound from their major league-leading eighth walk-off loss of the season Thursday afternoon when they conclude a four-game series with the New York Yankees.
Texas was two outs away from being able to play for its record-setting 22nd win of June and its first four-game sweep in New York but let a 7-2 lead slip away and wound up with a 9-7 loss.
Cesar Ramos gave up Brian McCann's first home run in the eighth and Sam Dyson allowed McCann's three-run home run in the ninth and Didi Gregorius' game-winner.
"Obviously when you have your closer on the mound in a save situation, they're very challenging," Texas manager Jeff Banister said. "Four-run lead there in the 9th, and we've been really good at closing those games out."
Even though the bullpen now has a 4.84 ERA, this has still been a good month for the Rangers. They are 20-7 this month and can equal the record for wins in a month set in Sept. 1978 (21-10) and matched in June 2010 (21-6).
The Rangers also will be looking to go unbeaten in their last 13 series (13-0-1) and improved to 14-1-1 in its last 16. The only series loss was a three-game sweep by Oakland in mid-May but since then Texas is 29-9.
The Yankees will be hoping the late dramatics can finally springboard them into marking a run as they will try to reach .500 for the seventh time since May 22.
"Probably the biggest win of the year," Yankees designated hitter Alex Rodriguez said.
New York has never been more than two games over and since getting to 31-30 June 10, the Yankees are 8-9.
A win on Thursday will mean the Yankees don't head into July with a losing record for the first time since 2007. A win also means the Yankees will not face a double-digit through the end of June for the seventh time since divisional play began in 1969.
"There's a sense of urgency," Girardi said. "As days tick away, you start to run out of time, and you don't want to bury yourself. Baltimore is playing extremely well. Boston has run into a few bumps here, but they've played well. Toronto's played well. And so you can't mess around too long and expect to be there.'
A.J Griffin is 3-0 with a 3.08 ERA in seven starts this season and will be on the mound Thursday for Texas.
Griffin made his first start off the disabled list and took a no-decision after allowing two runs and four hits in 4 1/3 innings of Saturday's 10-3 win over the Boston Red Sox. He has held opponents to .200 average and allowed three earned runs or less in each start.
The right-hander has had similar success in his career against the Yankees. He is 3-0 with a 2.49 ERA in four starts against New York, including April 26 in Arlington when he allowed one run and four hits in eight innings of a 10-1 victory.
The Yankees will hope Michael Pineda can continue his decent stretch. Although Pineda is 3-7 with a 5.51 ERA, he is 1-1 with a 3.00 in four starts this month.
Pineda leads the Yankees with 96 strikeouts and has at least eight strikeouts in four of five starts this month. The latest instance was Saturday when he took a no-decision and allowed one run and two hits in six innings against Minnesota.
Pineda is 0-3 with a 5.04 ERA in four starts against Texas. The last time he faced the Rangers at home was May 22, 2015 when he allowed seven runs (four earned) and eight hits over six innings of a 10-9 loss.