Yanks drop finale, turn attention to playoffs

ARLINGTON, TEXAS >> Lance Lynn struck out 10, getting his career-high 16th win as the Texas Rangers closed out the 26th and final season at their ballpark with a 6-1 win over the AL East champion New Yankees on Sunday.

After Aaron Judge’s 27th homer in the third inning tied the game at 1-1, Lynn (16-11) retired his last 14 batters while pitching against the team he finished 2018 with.

New York, which plays Minnesota in the Division Series starting Friday, went 103-59, an improvement of three wins from last year and the team’s best record in a decade. The 2009 Yankees also went 103-59, and they went on to win New York’s last World Series championship.

In the latest injury in a season filled with them, New York third baseman Gio Urshela left in the fourth inning after spraining his left ankle sprain after he fielded Nick Solak’s grounder toward the foul line and made a jump throw to first. The Yankees said the sprain was mild and no other testing was planned.

DJ LeMahieu was 0 for 3 and finished his first season with the Yankees with a .327 batting average, second in the AL to Chicago’s Tim Anderson (.335). LeMahieu set career highs with 26 homers and 102 RBIs.

Judge’s homer was the Yankees’ 306th, but Minnesota hit three Sunday to set a big league record with 307.

Nolan Ryan threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Globe Life Park in Arlington to his catcher was Kenny Rogers, who threw a perfect game in the park’s first season in 1994. President George W. Bush — the team’s former owner — was in the stands for the 2,081st regular season game at the stadium, where the Rangers went 1,145-936. New York was 57-48, a .543 winning percentage that was the best for any visiting AL team.

Home plate was moved after the game to Globe Life Field, the new stadium with a retractable roof across the street.

Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor, who had 30 homers and 93 RBIs, was 1 for 3 and finished with a .205 average, the lowest among 136 major league qualifiers.

Texas went 78-84 in manager Chris Woodward’s first year, an 11-win improvement over 2018 but its third straight losing season.