Ryan McMahon, Jazz Chisholm Jr. power Yankees past Rangers

Two of the coldest Yankees hitters through the first few weeks of the season have begun to heat up. 

On Tuesday, Ryan McMahon and Jazz Chisholm Jr. won them the game to keep the Yankees even hotter. 

After facing an early deficit, McMahon crushed a game-tying two-run shot off Jacob deGrom before Chisholm took him deep to put the Yankees ahead for good in what became their fifth straight win, 7-4, over the Rangers in The Bronx. 

Cody Bellinger later created some breathing room with a two-run double, and Paul Goldschmidt added a solo shot as the Yankees (25-11) won for the 15th time in their last 17 games. 

Everything has been clicking lately for Aaron Boone’s club, from the rotation and bullpen to the offense and defense. On Tuesday, that included the bullpen picking each other up throughout the night to keep the Rangers (16-19) in check, with Brent Headrick, Fernando Cruz and David Bednar combining to inherit eight runners and strand all of them. 

But the big swings from McMahon and Chisholm were especially clutch from two hitters who have begun to turn the corner following early season struggles. 

McMahon, who went 2-for-4, tied the game 3-3 in the second inning after an eight-pitch battle with deGrom ended in his third home run of the season.

He is now batting .304 (14-for-46) with an .877 OPS over his last 17 games after hitting .119 (5-for-42) with a .379 OPS through his first 17 games, offering some important production at the bottom of the lineup. 

Chisholm, who put the Yankees ahead 4-3 with a 413-foot shot in the sixth — flush with a bat flip that went nearly as far — has taken off after starting the season without a homer in his first 23 games, batting .173 with a .498 OPS through April 22.

In 12 games since then, he has hit 13-for-45 (.289) with a .908 OPS and four home runs. 

Bellinger, meanwhile, delivered his second double of the game in the seventh inning, right after the Rangers intentionally walked Aaron Judge to load the bases with two outs. This one came left-on-left against reliever Jalen Beeks, driving in a pair of runs to make it 6-3. 

In what was likely his final start in the big leagues before Carlos Rodón comes off the injured list to replace him in the rotation next turn through, Elmer Rodríguez was hurt by a lack of command once again while giving up three runs across 4 ²/₃ innings. 

After walking four batters in his MLB debut against the Rangers last week in Arlington, Texas, Rodríguez issued four more free passes in his second start, plus hit a batter and threw a wild pitch.

That lack of strike throwing especially burned him early, as he walked the first two batters he faced and both eventually came around to score to put the Yankees in an early deficit. 

Two full-count walks and a single loaded the bases in the top of the first for Joc Pederson, who hit a deep sacrifice fly to put the Rangers up 1-0. Former Yankees prospect Ezequiel Durán, who was dealt away in the Joey Gallo trade, then blooped an RBI single to double the lead. 

One out and a hit-by-pitch later, the bases were loaded again. During a nine-pitch battle with Danny Jansen, Rodríguez spiked a slider that got past Austin Wells and allowed Josh Jung to score from third, making it a 3-0 game. 

Before Rodríguez finally retired Jansen on his 37th pitch of the frame, Ryan Yarbrough had begun to warm up in the bullpen, though he sat back down and Rodríguez began to settle in from there. 

The Yankees quickly got one of those runs back in the bottom of the first, as Judge and Bellinger drilled back-to-back doubles — Bellinger coming within inches of a two-run homer — to cut the deficit to 3-1.