After trailing 5-0, Yankees score 21 unanswered runs to beat Rangers

Chris Capuano was awful Tuesday night. The Yankees starter issuied five walks in the first inning that resulted in the Texas Rangers scoring five quick runs, but thanks to a slew of even more awful Texas Rangers pitchers, it didn’t matter.

And Capuano's fail only set up what was to be an astonishing 21-5 Yankees win at Globe Life Park. A weird game that included an 11-run inning, position players pitching and a Triple-A call-up throwing 5 1/3 hitless and scoreless innings for his first big league win.

The Yankees' bats weren't the only things that were hot during the bizarre game. The lop-sided victory was witnessed by a crowd of 28,403 that withered like the Rangers — thanks to a game-time temperature of 98 degrees.

“I don’t know if I have ever been part of that,’’ manager Joe Girardi said after his barnstorming club won for the 13th time in 16 games and remained seven games ahead of the second-place Orioles in the AL East. “Give up five in the first, don’t give up a hit and score 21 runs.’’

From 11-run innings to infielders pitching, the @Yankees and @Rangers played one of 2015’s weirdest games: http://t.co/bbMNakz2Q8

— Cut4 (@Cut4) July 29, 2015

And while Yankees hitters were having their way, pitcher Diego Moreno was just a hair less than perfect after the hole his team dug. Moreno — a Yankees pitcher promoted from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre earlier Tuesday and part of the 2012 A.J. Burnett deal with the Pirates — worked 5 ¹/₃ hitless and scoreless innings for his first big league win in three games.

“I am happy about the opportunity and to be part of the win,’’ said Moreno, who walked Shin-Soo Choo with two outs in the third. It was the only base runner the Rangers had after the first inning.

The 11 runs in the second inning were the most by the Yankees in an inning since July 30, 2011 against Baltimore. The 21 runs are the most by the Yankees since a 22-9 win over the Athletics on Aug. 25, 2011.

Chris Young led the season-high 19-hit attack with a third-inning grand slam and an RBI double in the sixth. Brett Gardner added a two-run homer in the ninth off infielder Adam Rosales, who was on the mound, and Didi Gregorius contributed a career-high four hits and had a three-run triple in the second.

The only Yankees starter to not get a hit was Mark Teixeira who went 0-for-3.

Chris Young's reaction to Mike Trout robbing him of hit is priceless (VIDEO)

Mike Trout made three sparkling defensive plays and hit a home run off CC Sabathia in the Angels' victory over the Yankees Monday night. And even the Yankees players had to marvel at Trout's skills with the glove and bat — all except one.

Chris Young thought he had an extra-base hit after hitting the ball deep to centerfield ...twice. And both times, Trout was there to say, "Not in my house."

It’s hard not to love @MikeTrout … unless you’re @CY24_7. pic.twitter.com/7ro4PtKKY7

— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) June 30, 2015

Young is visibly upset at being robbed the second time and his reaction is priceless.

Both of those hits could have brought home a run for the Yankees had they got by Trout. And since the Angels beat the Yankees 4-1, the catches were instrumental in the Angels win.

Here's the one-man wrecking crew at work:

Yankees' Chris Young appears on Mets' tickets (PHOTO)

Chris Young may have been dumped by the Mets but that won't keep the image of the one-time poster boy for the team's futility from popping up at Citi Field — even if it's in a smaller version.

Young, now having a resurgence for the cross-town Yankees, was prominently featured on Mets-Nationals tickets at Citi Field Saturday. The photo was of him running the bases with his name and Mets' uniform number above his shoulder probably brought back forgettable memories of his time spent in Flushing for a lot of Mets fans.

@FeinsandNYDN @DavidWaldstein just found out the player pictured on today's #Mets tickets is... #ChrisYoung pic.twitter.com/756NGk8rbo
— 3-6-3 DP (@GeorgeFalkowski) September 13, 2014

"That's crazy," Young said when he heard about it in the Orioles visiting clubhouse Saturday.

Young struggled with the Mets, posting a .205 batting average with eight homers and 28 RBI in 88 games. The Mets eventually released him. The Yankees quickly signed him to a minor-league deal and promoted him to the majors Sept. 1. He's hitting .400 with three home runs and eight RBI for the Bombers since.

Maybe absence does make the heart grow fonder. 

Chris Young breaks up no-hitter in 8th, hits walk-off home run for Yankees (VIDEO)

Maybe there is a little magic left in the Yankees playoff push this season. And last night it came from one of the newest jigsaw pieces filling in the Bomber's lineup puzzle.

If the Yankees somehow make it to the playoffs, the team might want to look back at Chris Young's game at Yankee Stadium Thursday night and say thanks for the spark.

The former Mets outfielder — who was the scapegoat for everything that's wrong at Citi Field this season — broke up Alex Cobb's no-hitter with a one-out double in the eighth inning and then hit a thrilling walk-off three-run homer in the ninth to give the Yankees a 5-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

And it set off cheers that haven't been heard in the Bronx for a while.



Losing last night was have been another stumble in the Yankees playoff march but a no-hitter would have been a tumble down a cliff to a postseason void.

Young said it felt as if he were "floating on a cloud" upon seeing the ball clear the fence and hearing the fans cheer for him. 

"I don't even remember running around the bases," he said. "All I really remember was hitting the ball and being at home plate. I don't remember the rest. I don't even know if I was fully there."

Matt Holliday robs Chris Young of home run with leaping catch (VIDEO)

Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday robs the Mets' Chris Young of a home run with a perfectly timed leaping grab Tuesday night at Citi Field.

The 5th-inning catch helped the Cards go on to a 3-0 victory.

This is probably one Holiday that Young would rather not celebrate.

Trevor Bauer's unique stretching routine doesn't prevent groin pull in debut

Trevor Bauer strained his groin in his major league debut and had to leave after pitching the first four innings.

It's hard to understand how the Arizona Diamondbacks rookie— and No. 3 overall draft in 2011—  could pull anything after watching his pre -game stretching ritual.

Bauer— who was called up from Triple-A Reno earlier in the day— did all kinds of stretches, yoga poses and foul pole-to-foul pole tosses before the game and even had the catcher move back from the plate so he could let his warm-up pitches really fly.

After Bauer threw his first major league pitch, the excited 21-year old retrieved the ball as a keepsake but tossed it into the Atlanta Braves dugout by mistake.

Fortunately for Bauer, Chris Young hit a tie breaking homer in the ninth inning, giving Arizona a 3-2 victory over Atlanta.

The former-UCLA star allowed five hits, three walks, and struck out three batters in four innings.  Bauer threw 42 of his 74 pitches for strikes.

Next time Bauer does his pre-game warmups, he should work those inner thigh muscles just a little more.

Orlando Hudson's Fan-Friendly Goof

Orlando Hudson, the four-time Gold Glove winner of the San Diego Padres, was a little too eager to please a fan and his brain freeze cost the Padres a run against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Playing second base on Tuesday night at Petco Field, Hudson called for Ryan Robert's pop-up in shallow right field.  Without breaking his stride, Hudson snagged the ball, headed towards the right field stands and flipped the ball to a ball-girl before heading to the dugout.

Major problem.  It was only the second out.

Seeing Hudson's goof, Padres first baseman, Jesus Guzman, ran to the ball girl, but it was too late, it was in the stands.

Diamondbacks Chris Young and Miguel Montero were permitted to take two bases.  Young scored to make it 4-0.

The personable Hudson laughed at the epic blunder.

"You see it every now and then," he said.  "Life goes on, nobody's perfect."

Arizona went on to win, 6-1.