A five-run deficit meant nothing after the New York Yankees (57-42) scored 11 times in the second inning against the Texas Rangers (47-52) on route to a 21-5 trouncing. With the win, the Yankees move to 15 games over the .500 mark for the first time since September of 2012, the last year in which the Yankees reached the postseason.
The Yankees lead the A.L. East by seven games over the Baltimore Orioles.
Down 5-0 after one, the Yankees sent 15 men to the plate in the second, and 11 of them scored, six of them before the first out. The Yankees got RBI hits from Chase Headley (single), Brendan Ryan (two-run double), Jacoby Ellsbury (single), Brett Garder (game-tying single), Alex Rodriguez (double), Headley (single), Didi Gregorius (three-run triple), and Ryan (double).
The 11-run inning is the biggest in the Majors this season.
The outburst did not end there. With the bases loaded in the third, Chris Young launched a grand slam (12) into the left-field bleachers to make the score 15-5.
Young finished the night 3 for 6 with five RBI and four runs scored. In addition, Gardner was 3 for 4 with three RBI and five runs. Ryan and Gregorius each drove in three, and Headley and Murphy each brought home two.
Young, Ryan, Murphy, and Gardner completed the scoring. Young brought a run home with a fourth-inning ground ball, and he doubled home a run in the sixth. Ryan's and Murphy's sixth-inning singles each scored two.
In the top of the ninth, the Rangers put second baseman Adam Rosales on the mound, and Gardner took him into the right-field stands for a two-run shot (11) that ended the scoring (video).
Texas scored five times in the first on RBI hits from Elvis Andrus and Ryan Rua (two-run single), a run-scoring double from Shin-Soo Choo, and a bases-loaded walk to Delino DeShields, Jr.
Diego Moreno (W: 1-0, 2.45) picked up his first Major League win after taking over for Chris Capuano in the first. Moreno pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings in just his third Major League game. Adam Warren (S: 1) pitched the final three innings to record a save by rule.
Martin Perez (L: 0-2, 10.50) was charged with eight earned runs in one official inning. He failed to record an out in the second after allowing seven total hits. He walked none and struck out one. Wandy Rodriguez took over in the second but fared no better. Rodriguez allowed seven runs in 1+ inning on six hits. He served up Young's grand slam; he also walked three and struck out three.
On Wednesday, the Yankees send Masahiro Tanaka (7-3, 3.64) to the mound while Texas counters with Colby Lewis (10-4, 4.49). The game begins at 8:05 p.m. EDT.