Yankees power past Rangers to win series finale

Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez connected for two solo home runs apiece, and Didi Gregorius went 4 for 4 with four RBIs as the New York Yankees rolled to a 16-7 victory and a series victory over the Texas Rangers.

A.J. Griffin and Nick Martinez combined to allow nine runs in the first four innings. Martinez allowed four of the six runs the Yankees scored in the fourth to put the game away.

The good news for the Rangers is that the Minnesota Twins also lost, keeping them only 2 1/2 games back for the second wild-card spot.　

How Rangers pitchers fared: A.J. Griffin was hit hard in three-plus innings, and Nick Martinez only recorded two outs in the fourth before he had to be lifted. ... Griffin was charged with five runs, two of which come home as inherited runners that Martinez couldn’t strand. Martinez allowed five hits in the fourth — as many as Griffin allowed in his outing — and four runs of the six runs in the inning. ... Yohander Mendez made his 2017 debut and allowed three runs (one earned) in 2 1/3 innings. ... Tyson Ross was allowed to pitch, and the Yankees got him for four runs. 　

How Rangers hitters fared: It wasn’t a terrible day for the offense, with 10 hits and seven runs, but it wasn’t nearly enough. ... Robinson Chirinos connected for a home run in the second inning, reaching base for the 24th straight game. ... Ryan Rua went 3 for 3 with a walk in one of his best games of the season. ... Many of the regulars exited early with the game out of hand. One of the was Robinson Chirinos, and back-up catcher A.J. Jimenez collected his first major-league hit in the seventh.

This story was originally published September 10, 2017 at 5:52 PM with the headline "Yankees power past Rangers to win series finale."