Yankees rally to win third straight on Jasson Dominguez's walk-off homer
Yankees outfielder Jasson Domínguez celebrates after his walk-off home run against the Texas Rangers at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday. Credit: Ed Murray
It was all about perseverance on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.
Runs were hard to come by against Rangers righthander Jacob deGrom, the one-time Mets ace. However, the Yankees rode it out, rallied to tie the game in the eighth inning and managed to pull out a 4-3 victory on Jasson Dominguez’s 398-foot, walk-off home run to right in the ninth before 40,359 on a cold, raw night at the Stadium.
It was Dominguez’s first career walk-off homer and the Yankees’ first since September 2022.
“That was awesome,” Dominguez said. “The first one is always special . . . I knew it when I hit it.”
The Yankees (29-19) have won three straight and 10 of their last 13 games. They have also won five straight series.
“That was a huge win going up against one of the greatest pitchers of our generation,” Aaron Judge said. “That was a big-time win for us. He’d been making pitches all night, [we] really couldn’t get anything going . . . To battle it out and fight all the way to the end and the homer was pretty special.”
DeGrom’s fastball may no longer hit triple digits like it used to when he donned a Mets uniform and won a pair of Cy Young Awards, but one thing remains true about him: When he’s healthy, he ranks among the best pitchers in the game.
The Yankees weathered seven tough innings by the 36-year-old, who exited with a 3-2 lead. The Rangers hit three solo home runs — two by Jake Burger.
DeGrom allowed two runs on three hits and one walk while striking out nine. Cody Bellinger ended a stretch of 15 straight batters retired by deGrom with a home run into the second deck in rightfield to start the seven inning and cut a margin that had been 3-1 to a single run.
Bellinger has hit in 15 straight games, a career high and the longest current streak in the majors.
The Yankees tied things up in the eighth inning. After pinch hitter Paul Goldschmidt and Trent Grisham drew walks off Robert Garcia, Aaron Judge came to bat with two out against Texas closer Luke Jackson and ripped a run-scoring single to left.
Luke Weaver came on with a runner on and none out in the top of the ninth and held Texas at bay to set the table for Dominguez’s heroics.
Boone was asked what has struck him about Dominguez’s development and replied, “His talent and poise. He’s just not affected by great results or a struggling day . . . you’re really starting to see just how good a talent he is. You see him run, you see the speed, you see the power.”
Yankees lefthander Ryan Yarbrough delivered five strong innings as a spot starter, allowing one run on three hits and zero walks with eight strikeouts.
“It’s fun to watch him pitch,” Boone said. “You know he flips that sweeper up there, like 68 or 69 and it looks like a Wiffle ball coming in there. And he does such a good job with the cutter-sinker combination.”
The Yankees got on the board in the second inning when Rangers centerfielder Sam Haggerty got a bad jump on a long drive by Anthony Volpe, made a dive for it and had it go off his glove for a leadoff triple. Two batters later DJ LeMahieu brought him in with a groundout to second base.
Notes & quotes: Ben Rice took ground balls at third base before Sunday’s game against the Mets but said Wednesday it’s not part of a plan to learn a new position. “I just do it for fun,” he said. “Over at first base sometimes my feet get a little stagnant . . . When you go over there to the left side of the infield, you have to move your feet to make the throws.” . . . Rangers catcher Jonah Heim came out of the game before the Yankees came to bat in the second inning because of a compressed nerve in his throwing hand, slightly delaying the game until Tucker Barnhart could put on the catching equipment . . . Josef Newgarden, winner of the Indianapolis 500 the past two years, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
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