Wyatt Langford’s grand slam lifts Rangers to victory over Yankees

ARLINGTON, Texas — Wyatt Langford hit a game-tying grand slam against All-Star closer Clay Holmes on Tuesday night, giving the Texas Rangers a 7-4 victory over the New York Yankees that lifted them out of the lead in the American League East.

Langford hit the first walk-off slam by a Rangers rookie, sending Holmes (2-5) to a major league-high 11th blown save in 40 chances. Texas rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the eighth inning.

“I think everybody loves moments like that,” said Langford, the first Rangers player with three walk-off hits in a season since Josh Hamilton in 2011. “I think you love them even more when you can get through them. So it’s really cool to be able to get through them.”

Langford, a bright spot in a rough season for Texas, is just the second player in major league history to hit a cycle, an inside-the-park home run and a walk-off grand slam in the same season, according to ESPN Stats & Information Research. Jackie Robinson did the same thing in 1948.

Carson Kelly singled with one out in the ninth inning, then walked Josh Smith and Marcus Semien, while Holmes threw just 12 of 25 pitches for strikes.

“There were times when I thought I was beat, honestly,” Holmes said. “Tonight was one of those nights where I didn’t pitch very well, and I wasn’t very good at all and I didn’t deserve to come out on top there, the way I pitched.”

Langford hit a 410-foot slider to left field for his 10th home run of the season.

“He’s gotten to those big places and done it for us,” Kelly said. “It’s absolutely amazing to see.”

New York (80-59) fell a half-game behind Baltimore (81-59) for the division lead and the best record in the American League. The Yankees have lost five of their last seven games.

When Yankees manager Aaron Boone was asked if he should consider changing closers, he said he wouldn’t answer that question “while we’re still emotional” right after the game.

“It’s there, I feel like he’s throwing the ball well. Tonight, it was definitely a struggle,” Boone said. “Getting the lead guy out there and then not getting the righty out there to start the rally, and then losing the zone a little bit and not being able to finish a couple 3-2 counts. … He’s really important to us out there. We need his excellence to be a part of the group out there. So, you know, this is a tough one.”

It was the Rangers’ third straight walk-off victory at home, and their MLB-high-tying ninth overall. They won in their final at-bats on Saturday and Sunday against Oakland before losing the series opener to New York.

Left-handed rookie Walter Pennington (1-0), Texas’ sixth pitcher, earned his first major league victory after recording one out, a flyout to right off MLB home run leader Aaron Judge.

Carlos Rodon struck out a season-high 11 batters while pitching six innings of one-hit ball. The only hit the New York left-handed pitcher gave up was Josh Jung’s home run at the top of the fourth inning.

New York took the lead after Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Anthony Volpe led off the seventh inning with consecutive singles. José Leclerc (5-5) blocked and pushed them both up, then Jose Trevino had an RBI groundout and Alex Verdugo singled over an infield that had been pulled in for a 2-1 lead.

Volpe added a two-run single with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth, and the speedy Chisolm likely would have scored from first as well had he not been stopped despite being waved around by third base coach Luis Rojas. Chisolm, who had his fourth consecutive multi-hit game, seemed to acknowledge that he hadn’t picked up the sign when he pointed to his eyes.

The Rangers scored twice in the eighth inning, when Jung hit an RBI single and Nathaniel Lowe hit a sacrifice fly.

Texas starter Andrew Heaney struck out eight with one walk and gave up no runs while pitching until the sixth inning. The 13-loss left-hander has given up just one run in 15 innings (0.60 ERA) in his last three starts without a decision in any of them.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.