Two of the Yankees’ hitters who went cold in the first few weeks of the season are starting to heat up.
On Tuesday, Ryan McMahon and Jazz Chisholm Jr. they won the game to keep the Yankees hot.
After facing an early deficit, McMahon hit a two-run shot that scored Jacob deGrom before Chisholm took him deep to lead the Yankees to their fifth straight victory, 7-4, over the Rangers in the Bronx.
Cody Bellinger later created breathing room with a two-run home run, and Paul Goldschmidt added a solo shot as the Yankees (25-11) won for the 15th time in their last 17 games.
Everything has been clicking lately for Aaron Boone’s club, from rotation and possession to offense and defense. On Tuesday, that included a bullpen that rallied all night to stop the Rangers (16-19), with Brent Headrick, Fernando Cruz and David Bednar stringing together eight runs and striking out all of them.
But the big turns of McMahon and Chisholm are more than enough for two hitters who have started to turn the corner following an early season struggle.
McMahon, who went 2-for-4, tied the game 3-3 in the second inning after an eight-hitter with deGrom striking out for his third game of the season.
He is now hitting .304 (14-for-46) with an .877 OPS over his last 17 games after hitting .119 (5-for-42) with a .379 OPS over his first 17 games, providing significant production down the line.
Chisholm, who put the Yankees ahead 4-3 with a 413-foot shot in the sixth – hit on a bat flip that almost went as far – has departed after starting the season without a homer in his first 23 games, hitting .173 with a .498 OPS through April 22.
In the 12 games since, he has hit 13-for-45 (.289) with a .908 OPS and four home runs.
Bellinger, meanwhile, hit his second double of the game in the seventh inning, shortly after the Rangers intentionally walked Aaron Judge to load the bases with two outs. This one came off a single to left field against shortstop Jalen Beeks, driving in two runs to make it 6-3.
In what may be his last start in the big leagues before Carlos Rodón comes off the injured list to replace him in the next rotation, Elmer Rodríguez was hurt by a lack of command again while giving up three runs in 4 ²/₃ innings.
After walking four batters in his MLB debut against the Rangers last week in Arlington, Texas, Rodríguez struck out four more in his second start, and also hit a home run.
with a Yankees victory over the Rangers. JASON SZENES IN NEW YORK
That lack of strikeouts hurt him early, as he walked the first two batters he faced and both came close to scoring to put the Yankees in an early deficit.
A two-out walk and a single loaded the bases in the top of the first by Joc Pederson, who hit a sacrifice fly to put the Rangers up 1-0. Former Yankees prospect Ezequiel Durán, who was ousted in the Joey Gallo trade, then followed with an RBI single for a two-run lead.
One out and a hit-by-pitch later, the bases were loaded again. During a nine-pitch battle with Danny Jansen, Rodríguez hit a slider past Austin Wells and allowed Josh Jung to score at third, making it 3-0.
Before Rodríguez finally retired Jansen in his 37th frame, Ryan Yarbrough had started warming up in the bullpen, though he was sitting down and Rodríguez was starting to settle in there.
The Yankees quickly got one of those runs back in the bottom of the first, as Judge and Bellinger hit back-to-back doubles — Bellinger coming within inches of a two-run homer — to cut the deficit to 3-1.
