Major League Baseball

Yankees-Rangers Preview

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 11:51 p.m. ET

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Elvis Andrus has found a new home in the Texas Rangers' batting order, and it's much lower than usual.

Andrus looks to continue his hot hitting and help the Rangers to a second straight win over the New York Yankees.

Andrus is second in the AL with a .343 average, batting seventh or eighth in all but two games. He's been in the No. 2 spot in 624 of his 1,093 career games.

"It's been a good position for me so far," said Andrus, who had a .250 career average in April prior to this year. "As long as I'm still doing my job, I kind of like it."

He certainly did Tuesday, going 3 for 4 with a double and one RBI in a 10-1 win over the Yankees to end Texas' four-game skid.

Andrus has a .375 average over his last 17 home games against New York, and he's 10 for 22 overall against scheduled starter CC Sabathia.

Since a solid season debut, Sabathia (1-1, 5.28 ERA) has struggled in his past two starts. He's allowed six runs and 16 hits over 9 1/3 innings, losing his only decision.

The left-hander surrendered 11 runs and 16 hits - three homers - in 7 1/3 innings in two starts against the Rangers last year. He's 3-2 despite a 5.79 ERA in his past six starts in Arlington.

The Rangers (11-10) will counter with Martin Perez (0-2, 4.50), who is getting a fifth chance at his first win of 2016. The left-hander didn't come close Friday, surrendering five runs in 5 2/3 innings of a 5-0 loss to the Chicago White Sox.

He'll hope to atone for a dreadful performance in his only other start against the Yankees (8-11) on July 28. Perez tossed a scoreless first inning before surrendering eight runs and getting the hook while failing to get an out in the second in a 21-5 loss.

This time, Perez is facing a New York club that's batting .218 with eight runs over the last four games. The Yankees were held to six hits Tuesday - all singles.

"We should have put better swings on the mistakes, but he didn't have many," first baseman Mark Teixeira said of starter A.J. Griffin. "He hit corners a lot, and give him credit."

Teixeira is turning his season around in a big way, going 9 for 20 over the past five games after his average dipped to .170 in the first 14.

The Yankees might have Alex Rodriguez back from a left oblique injury that's sidelined him for two games. However, he's batting .145 with two homers and six RBIs through 15 games.

Texas' Ian Desmond had two hits and scored three runs Tuesday. He's batting .448 with three homers in his last eight games after hitting .091 with no home runs in his first 12.

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