In the span of about six and a half hours, the Yankees showed flashes of the peak of their powers, a team that could out-talent others all the way to the World Series.
And flashes of what could go wrong along the way for a club that still has holes.
An 8-0 win backed by Austin Wells, Aaron Judge and Carlos Rodon, followed by an ugly 9-4 loss to the Rangers that included a five-run, sixth-inning implosion, amounted to a doubleheader split in front of 41,996 in The Bronx for the Yankees (69-49), who have won nine of 13 and generally righted themselves after a lengthy malaise.
But on the other end of the trade deadline, there are still concerns about the team’s rotation, bullpen and offense’s ability to hit lefties, all of which mattered in a rough nightcap.
The positive first: The Yankees initially showed the kind of powerful and deep lineup that can do damage in October.
Judge reached base in four of five plate appearances in the opener and saw 35 pitches, which made the job of the batters behind him easier.
Gleyber Torres’ first-inning RBI single gave the Yankees the lead, and Wells’ two-run single and two-run double helped put the game away.
The Yankees knocked out Nathan Eovaldi after just three innings with six hits, several timely, in a game that rarely was in doubt.
“We were having some really solid at-bats against [Eovaldi],” said Wells, who looks natural in the cleanup hole. “They wore him down pretty good.”
Batting fourth, Wells has hit .362 (21-for-58) with six runs, three doubles, a triple, two homers and 13 RBIs in 14 games.
“I think it’s worked out so far,” Wells said of his spot in the order.
Wells was out of the lineup for the second game, replaced by Giancarlo Stanton in the No. 4 hole for a team that was trying to match up against Cody Bradford.
The team’s struggles against lefties resurfaced.
The Yankees entered play with just a .705 OPS against southpaws, which was the 13th worst in MLB and far worse than their majors-best .796 OPS against righties.
They again showed little pulse against a lefty, knocking just four singles in five innings against Bradford and only scoring one manufactured run: Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled in the second inning, stole second and scored on a Torres single.
“I feel like we have the people to correct that a little bit,” manager Aaron Boone said of the team’s struggle against lefties, mentioning the return of Stanton as a boost.
The Yankees didn’t score after the second until back-to-back homers from Stanton and Chisholm (his second of the day) in the eighth, which qualified as garbage time because the hole was too deep.
Wasted was a strong and abbreviated start from Gerrit Cole, as the Yankees unraveled once Cole was lifted in the sixth after 90 pitches.
The Yankees were handling their ace carefully after general body fatigue pushed back his previous start.
Without Cole, the bullpen faltered — as did a third baseman who is still learning third base.
In a wild sixth inning, the normally solid Luke Weaver replaced Cole and served up singles to Nathaniel Lowe and Adolis Garcia.
Leody Taveras hit a gapper to right-center that Juan Soto did well to chase down, nearly completing a remarkable diving catch, but he couldn’t hold on.
Lowe and Garcia had to stay near their bases until they saw the ball drop.
Soto threw to Torres, who threw a strike to third, where Chisholm merely had to touch the base — but instead tried to tag Lowe.
A Rangers challenge found that Chisholm was too late in his tag.
Chisholm said he believed Soto had made the catch, and thus a tag was needed.
The play loomed large after Weaver walked in a run, a sacrifice fly scored another and Corey Seager’s three-run dinger essentially ended the game.
“That was devastating for sure,” said Weaver, whose ERA swelled from 2.81 to 3.50.
The problems were not over for the Yankee bullpen, as Michael Tonkin allowed five straight two-out hits and three runs in the seventh.
Yankees starting pitching was a bright spot, albeit not blindingly so.
Both Rodon (5 ²/₃ innings, no runs, three hits, five walks, six strikeouts) and Cole (5 ¹/₃ innings, six hits, one run, two walks, 10 strikeouts) got into trouble and generally struck their way out of it.
Rodon handed off to a sturdy bullpen, and Cole watched that bullpen implode.
There were things to like and things to grow concerned about after a 1-1 Saturday.
“It was a long day,” Weaver said.
