Carlos Rodón can be such a frustrating pitcher to watch at times. Not because he’s untalented — he’s got ability in droves — but precisely because despite that talent, he can get in his own way. He’ll be nigh on untouchable for 90% of a start, but a lapse of concentration for a few batters can turn an entire outing on its head. There were points during this game where things might have spiraled out of control, but Rodón reined in his command each time, his six scoreless innings providing the bedrock for the Yankees’ 1-0 win.
If there’s one thing that has really hurt Rodón in the early going — and a principal factor in the meltdown innings that have sunken otherwise dominant display — it’s the free pass. His 12.9-percent walk rate entering today was fifth-highest among qualified starters, and it looked like it would be more of the same in the first, Rodón walking the leadoff hitter followed by a Junior Caminero single. However, Rodón buckled down and struck out the next three batters he faced to erase the two on, no out jam.
It seemed like his offense gained energy from watching their starter respond to early adversity. Paul Goldschmidt blooped a leadoff single to right, J.C. Escarra drew a one out walk, and Trent Grisham lined a two-out single to center to plate Goldschmidt as the game’s opening run in the second.
Surmounting the early struggles also seemed to give a jolt to Rodón, because he ran rampant on the Rays for the rest of his start. He erased a Jonathan Aranda walk to lead off the second with a strikeout out and double play. He worked a 1-2-3 third on eleven pitches, aided by an Anthony Volpe web gem and some poor base running by Caminero. He navigated around a Danny Jansen walk in the fourth with a pair of strikeouts.
He ran into a bit more trouble in the fifth, José Caballero leading off with a double, but he was helped again by stout defense behind him and some more questionable baserunning by the Rays. Taylor Walls smacked a grounder to the right side and Caballero took off for home on contact, but Goldschmidt played it textbook, sprinting with the ball right at the runner, who was shortly thereafter tagged in the rundown. Walls was able to advance to second on the play but Rodón struck out Díaz to end the inning.
Rodón saved his nastiest stuff for his sixth and final inning. Caminero had two batted balls over 111 mph off Rodón in their first two encounters, but Rodón struck out the rising star to open the frame. He then maneuvered around a one-out walk, striking out Jansen to end the inning. If not for the four walks, it would have been a pretty much flawless outing from Rodón. His four-seamer averaged 96 mph, two mph faster than its season average. In total, he limited the Rays to two hits across six scoreless with nine strikeouts, ending his day at 102 pitches.
As it happens, Grisham’s RBI single proved the difference maker. They had several half chances to score over the next five innings but could never string together multiple quality at-bats against Rasmussen. Cody Bellinger walked and Goldschmidt singled with two outs in the third but Jazz Chisholm Jr. rolled over a center-cut fastball to strand the pair. Christopher Morel made a diving catch to rob Grisham of a two-out triple in the fourth. Perhaps their best shot came in the eighth, Oswaldo Cabrera leading off with a single before Ben Rice clubbed a liner to right. However, Caballero reached over the wall to rob Rice of the two-run home run, and Cabrera was later thrown out trying to steal second to end the inning.
Otherwise, there weren’t many positives to take from the offensive showing. Goldschmidt collected his tenth multi-hit game of the season with his three singles but the rest of the lineup combined for just two more hits. The Yankees drew three walks against Rasmussen after he entered the game having walked two total across his first three starts, but none of those runners scored. The poor approach of the Yankees’ middle infield duo is becoming harder and harder to ignore. Volpe and Jazz both came to the plate with a combined eight runners on across all their plate appearances and neither could advance a single runner, Jazz ending 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and Volpe 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
Mark Leiter Jr. was the first man out of the bullpen in relief of Rodón, and he gave up a leadoff double to Aranda. However, Aranda made an ill-advised attempt to stretch it to a triple, and a perfect relay by Grisham to Volpe to Cabrera nabbed him at third by a step.
That took the heat off Leiter, and he struck out the next two batters he faced to send it to the eighth. Fernando Cruz was handed the eighth and he continues to look nastier and nastier with each successive appearance in pinstripes. He struck out a pair giving him 18 strikeouts in just 10.2 innings to open the season. Weaver was given the opportunity to close the game in the ninth, and he followed the dominant examples set forward by the pitchers that preceded him. He blew a pair of elevated heaters by Lowe and Morel for strikeouts before getting Kameron Misner to fly out to end the game and seal the 1-0 win.
The Yankees will look to guarantee at least a series victory tomorrow with Carlos Carrasco set to face Shane Baz. First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 pm EDT with the broadcast remaining on YES.
