Yankees top Rangers 2-1 in rain-shortened game

Grounds crew members unroll the tarp during a sudden rainstorm in the fifth inning of a baseball game between the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York, Wednesday, July 23, 2014. (AP Photo) Grounds crew members unroll the tarp during a sudden rainstorm in the fifth inning of a baseball game between the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York, Wednesday, July 23, 2014. (AP Photo)

By Associated Press July 24, 2014 5 min read

NEW YORK (AP) – A wet field gave the New York Yankees one weird win.

Brett Gardner hit a tiebreaking homer off All-Star ace Yu Darvish, and New York beat the Texas Rangers 2-1 Wednesday night in a rain-shortened game called in the fifth inning under bizarre circumstances.

Once the rain stopped, the grounds crew did its best to dry out the field. But both managers expressed concern about players getting hurt on the soft basepaths, and the game was called after an unusual delay that lasted 1 hour, 49 minutes.

“The field was just not playable,” umpire crew chief Dale Scott told a pool reporter.

During the delay, the last-place Rangers reached an agreement to trade closer Joakim Soria to Detroit for minor league pitchers Jake Thompson and Corey Knebel.