ARLINGTON, Texas — By the time they arrived at Globe Life Field on Wednesday morning, the Yankees had already secured a terrific nine-game, three-city road trip.

But instead of putting a cherry on top in the finale against the Rangers, their ice cream melted in front of them.

Elmer Rodríguez struggled to throw strikes in his MLB debut, Jasson Domínguez left the game early after being hit by a pitch on the left elbow and most problematic, the Yankees could not touch Nathan Eovaldi in a 3-0 loss to the Rangers.

Eovaldi tossed seven shutout innings, holding his former team to just four singles and one walk while striking out five. That continued a trend of the Yankees (20-11) not being able to figure out the tough right-hander, who now owns a 1.58 ERA in seven starts against them since 2023.

“You always feel like you want to finish everything off and make it really great into an off day,” manager Aaron Boone said. “But Eovaldi beat us today and they were able to scratch a few runs together. We just couldn’t mount enough today.”

Rodríguez gave up two runs across four-plus innings — both runs coming in the fifth — while walking four, hitting a batter and scattering four hits. Of the 80 pitches he threw, only 42 were strikes, as the Rangers (15-16) made him work.

Aaron Judge of the Yankees walks to the dugout during the first inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on April 29, 2026. Getty Images

Of greater concern was Domínguez’s left elbow, after the team said he underwent X-rays at the stadium that were “inconclusive,” requiring a CT scan back in New York on Thursday. For now, the Yankees called it a “left elbow contusion,” after he was evaluated by the Rangers team physician, but it sounded more troublesome than that for the young left fielder who had just been called up Monday with a chance for regular at-bats while Giancarlo Stanton is on the injured list.

The series of unfortunate events delivered a buzzkill to an otherwise encouraging trip, which the Yankees finished 7-2 before flying home.

“Feel like we’re in a good place, we’re playing well,” Boone said. “We’ll enjoy this off day [Thursday] and then start a big series with the Orioles Friday.”

In four starts at Triple-A this year, the 22-year-old Rodríguez had walked just seven batters across 21 ¹/₃ innings. Then he walked four across four-plus innings in his debut — including three of the first eight batters he faced — creating some early jams for him to escape and one late that he could not.

Yankees team staff and manager Aaron Boone (17) check on left fielder Jasson Dominguez (24) after Dominguez is hit by pitch during the fourth inning. Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Yankees starting pitcher Elmer Rodriguez stands in the dugout after being pulled in the fifth inning against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday. AP

The latter came in the fifth inning, which Rodríguez began by hitting No. 8 hitter Alejandro Osuna with a 95 mph fastball and then walking Ezequiel Duran. After Brandon Nimmo hit a one-hopper off the glove of a drawn-in Ben Rice at first base for a single to load the bases, Josh Jung roped a two-run single through the left side for a 2-0 lead.

“I felt like I was competing,” Rodríguez said. “I felt like I could have executed a little bit better. Just missing a lot of pitches, so trying to move forward from that, work on that and try to be better.”

Rodríguez, who had his parents, brother and a cousin in attendance from Puerto Rico, will get the chance to improve on that with at least one or two more starts in the big leagues before Carlos Rodón returns from the IL. He showed flashes of his potential Wednesday, recording his first career strikeout on a 97 mph sinker to Jung that was part of a strike ’em out, throw ’em out double play, and later retiring seven straight.

“I thought his stuff was good,” Boone said. “Obviously strike throwing wasn’t as sharp as it’s going to be with him and typically is. But a lot of good out there. You saw his stuff play. I thought his mix of two-seam and four-seam and spinning it a little bit was good. Just a little better on the strike-throwing part and it’s a different line. But still kept us in the game and gave us a chance.”

On the other side, though, Eovaldi was too good, as the Rangers held the Yankees scoreless for only the second time this season and without an extra-base hit for only the third time.

“Obviously he hasn’t got off to a typical Nate start, but today looked very typical Nate,” Boone said. “We’ve seen that a lot from him.”