Rangers 2 - 4 Yankees
Final
  for this game

McCarthy hopes to shine again as Yanks wrap set with Rangers

Jul 24, 2014 - 12:57 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Brandon McCarthy tries to deliver another strong showing for the New York Yankees on Thursday when they wrap up their four-game series with the Texas Rangers at Yankee Stadium.

McCarthy has been terrific for the Yankees since being acquired from Arizona on July 6, going 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA in two starts. He had been 3-10 with a 5.01 ERA at the time of the deal.

The 31-year-old right-hander was again on point Saturday in a win over the Cincinnati Reds, as he allowed just a run and six hits, while striking out nine in six innings.

"You're pitching for the Yankees, and that's an opportunity no matter what the circumstances are," McCarthy said. "For me, it's at a point of my career where I really wanted to be challenged. I really wanted to be in a pennant race."

McCarthy, who pitched for the Rangers from 2007-09, is 2-5 against his former team with a 4.70 ERA in 12 games (10 starts).

Texas, meanwhile, will counter with Colby Lewis, who is 6-7 with a 6.37 ERA. Lewis absorbed the loss on Saturday in Toronto, as he gave up two runs and eight hits in five innings.

"I don't really dwell on this start, next start, last start," said Lewis, who fell to 6-7 on the year. "I felt like my stuff was great. Was able to locate, especially a lot of the offspeed stuff. The changeup was really good today. They just put together a couple runs and that was all they needed."

Lewis had faced 101 consecutive batters without issuing a free pass -- the longest streak by a Texas starter this season -- until he walked Jose Bautista with two outs in the first inning. It was the first time Lewis had walked a batter in five starts, a span of 21 1/3 innings.

The righty has not had any success versus the Yankees, posting an 0-2 mark with a 6.89 ERA in three starts.

After needing 14 innings to win Tuesday's game, New York was able to pull off a victory in only five on Wednesday, as Brett Gardner homered and helped the Yanks eke out a 2-1 victory.

With one out in the home fifth, the rain came quick and hard, and it took the grounds crew about 15 minutes to get the tarp on the infield. Too much water on the tarp made it hard to pull and the infield was deluged with rain.

The delay started around 8:45 p.m. and players were called back on the field for a supposed 10:05 p.m. restart. Umpires, though, had a conversation with both managers. The Rangers, including starter Yu Darvish, came back out to warm up, but he walked off the field. Both managers expressed concern about the damp, soft field conditions.

"He told me one time he threw three games in one day," Rangers manager Ron Washington said of Darvish. "Having to sit down and get back up, it doesn't affect him, but it affects us."

David Phelps (5-4) surrendered five hits and fanned three to remain unbeaten (4-0) over his last eight starts. Darvish (9-6) struck out five over 4 1/3 frames, but was called for a balk that tied the contest in the third inning.

The Yankees have won five of their last six games, while the Rangers have dropped 12 of their last 14.

The Rangers won four of seven encounters a season ago.






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