Intentional walks might be an important baseball strategy, but excellent hitters might also not like it. Still, all that matters in the game is your team winning, as the New York Yankees proved when they outlasted the Texas Rangers, 8-7, in a Sunday thriller. During the game, the Rangers continued the trend of intentionally walking tremendous hitter Aaron Judge for his sixth time in eight games and 13th in the season. However, Giancarlo Stanton hit a three-run homer after the fifth-inning walk, while Juan Soto had two and Judge hit his MLB-best 42nd home run for the victory.

“It’s part of the game,” Stanton said about the ongoing trend of teams intentionally walking Aaron Judge. “He’s an all-time talent. So that happens. I got to do what happened today in order for it not to happen. It’s part of the game. You have some fun with it.”

Meanwhile, the power hitter concurred with his teammate. Last week, the Toronto Blue Jays had walked Judge three times in their loss to the Yankees.

“I get on base and hopefully the guys behind me do their thing and today it worked out,” he said after the game.

The Yankees’ performance

With this victory, the Yankees returned to first place in the American League East, tying the Baltimore Orioles with a record of 70-49. Besides hitting a personal MLB milestone, Aaron Judge also reached base four times against the Rangers, his 41st time reaching base at least three times this season.

Likewise, Giancarlo Stanton had a season-high four RBI and hit a homer in straight games for the first time since June 11 to 12 against the Kansas City Royals. This performance also came nine games after Stanton returned from a hamstring injury that sidelined him for 28 games. Moreover, this game gave Stanton his 20th homer for the 13th time in his 15 seasons.

Meanwhile, outfielder Juan Soto hit his first homer off Andrew Heaney and his second off Andrew Chafin on his way to hitting 30 homers for only the third time in his MLB career.

Playoff outlook

After defeating the Rangers, the Yankees have won ten of their last 14 games, improving to 13-17 this season when starting left-handers. On the other hand, the slumping Rangers have lost 11 of their last 15. This losing streak had also struck right after they had climbed to one game from .500 on July 25.

“We couldn’t stop them,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said after losing to the Yankees.

As the 2024 season rounds toward the home stretch, the Yankees look to take this momentum to secure their spot in the standings and set themselves up for success in the postseason. They had suffered a slight midseason skid but have since recovered to tie with the Orioles, who have held the AL East’s top spot for a few weeks. Both the Yankees and Orioles will play a series on the second-to-the-last week of the season, which should carry heavy playoff implications.