ARLINGTON, Texas (Interstat) — Cam Schlittler pitched six innings of three-hit shutout ball and the New York Yankees held off a ninth-inning rally by the Texas Rangers for a 3-2 victory Tuesday night at Globe Life Park.

The Yankees improved to 20-10, while the Rangers fell to 14-16. New York took the opener of a two-game set, having beaten Texas 4-2 the previous night, and now have won eight of their last nine games overall.

Schlittler (4-1) allowed only three hits, walked none and struck out eight before leaving with a 1-0 lead. He lowered his ERA to 1.80 over his past three starts, having also beaten Boston on April 23 and Kansas City on April 17.

The right-hander worked efficiently, retiring the side in order in the second, third and fifth innings. He faced only one batter over the minimum through six frames, with the only Texas base runners coming on a single by Brandon Nimmo in the third, a walk to Alejandro Osuna in the fifth and a single by Nimmo and a walk to Josh Jung in the sixth. Schlittler escaped that sixth-inning jam by striking out Corey Seager and getting Joc Pederson to pop out.

Jacob deGrom (2-1) matched Schlittler for six innings, allowing one run on three hits with five strikeouts and no walks. The only damage off deGrom came in the first inning.

Aaron Judge singled with two outs in the first, and Cody Bellinger doubled to right-center, scoring Judge for a 1-0 lead. The double was Bellinger’s fourth of the season.

The game remained a pitcher’s duel until the seventh, when Austin Wells led off the inning with a solo home run to right field, his third of the season, to double the Yankees’ lead to 2-0. Wells finished 2-for-3 with the homer and an RBI single in the fifth.

New York added a critical insurance run in the ninth when Judge led off against Cole Winn with his 12th home run of the season, a solo shot to left-center. Judge went 2-for-4 with a homer and a run scored.

The Rangers made it interesting in the bottom of the ninth against Yankees closer David Bednar. After Josh Smith flied out, Andrew McCutchen reached on a throwing error by third baseman Ryan McMahon. Danny Jansen then tripled to left, scoring McCutchen to make it 3-1. Brandon Nimmo was hit by a pitch, and Josh Jung singled to left, scoring Jansen and pulling the Rangers within 3-2. But with runners at first and second and one out, Corey Seager grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the game.

Bednar earned his ninth save of the season, though he allowed two runs — one earned — on two hits in the ninth.

The Yankees’ bullpen also featured strong work from Fernando Cruz, who struck out two in a perfect eighth inning, and Brent Headrick, who worked a scoreless seventh with one hit and one strikeout.

Texas finished with seven hits, led by Jung’s two singles and an RBI, Jansen’s triple and RBI, and Nimmo’s two singles. The Rangers left five runners on base and struck out 11 times.

New York managed only five hits but made them count. Judge delivered two hits, Wells added two, and Bellinger had the lone extra-base hit.

The game was played in 2 hours, 45 minutes before an announced crowd of 26,767.

The most pivotal sequence occurred in the bottom of the ninth. After the Rangers scored twice and had the tying run on second with one out, Seager’s ground ball up the middle was fielded by second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., who flipped to shortstop Jose Caballero for the force on Jung, and Caballero’s relay to first beat Seager for the double play that sealed the victory.

New York’s pitching staff combined for 14 strikes, 51 balls and 14 balls in play, while Texas pitchers threw 26 strikes, 42 balls and 26 balls in play.

The Yankees’ next game is Wednesday night at Texas, completing the two-game series. They then return home for five games against Baltimore starting Friday. The Rangers travel to Detroit for a three-game set beginning Friday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of New York Yankees 7, Texas Rangers 4, while its ELO system gave the Yankees a 56.30 percent probability to win. New York had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 5 went under the over/under line of 7.5.