It’s kind of funny that once Manny Machado’s 25th homer of the season landed in the seats in the fourth inning, we could have just fast-forwarded to the end of the game. That big fly made the score 5-1, that’s where this game ended, and while the Yankees missed a few chances to add to their lead, but the bullpen completely iced out the Padres, and this series is knotted up at a game apiece.
I was a little bit worried about Carlos Rodón’s start, as the southpaw struggled with his control in the first
inning. He put two Padres aboard, one via a single and one a walk before working his way out of the jam, albeit throwing 26 pitches to do it. Then, the Yankees rewarded him with an offensive surge over the next two innings, and he delivered shutdown frames in the home half of the second and the third, exactly what you look for from a good starter.
Manny Machado tagged him for a solo shot in the fourth, the only earned run Carlos allowed on the day, and the control problems blossomed again in the fifth. 16 pitches, and a big two-out walk issued to Fernando Tatís Jr. ended up pushing Rodón past where the Yankees wanted him to be, and Aaron Boone went to the bullpen to start the sixth.
This is kinda what I mean when I talk about Carlos Rodón. Five innings, two hits, and one run allowed is not a bad start. The 7:3 K:BB ratio is fine, not great, but when the runners don’t come around to score you can’t really get mad at anything. But like tonight, and a frighteningly disproportionate number of his starts, it feels like he left an inning, a couple more outs, something on the table. I can’t say he pitched poorly, but he could have pitched better, despite surrendering just the one run.
Let’s talk about the offense, who kicked around Robbie Ray to the tune of THAT lefty’s second-worst start of the season. He pitched a dazzling first, needing just seven chucks to retire the first three Yankees of the night. And then…
Ben Rice singled and moved to second on a soft groundout off George Lombard Jr.’s bat. After his big hit against Mason Miller in extra innings last night, Spencer Jones stayed hot and opened the scoring:
Ray then walked three consecutive Yankees, including the 8-9 hitters, and Paul Goldschmidt’s free pass brought Jones in from third. Still, the team needed one big hit, and Cody Bellinger gave it to them:
Ben Rice continued to be the straw that stirs the drink for the club lately, walking to lead off the third inning, including an ABS challenge to change the count from 2-1 to 3-0. In motion with Heliot Ramos swinging, Rice went to third base, and scored the fifth Yankee run on Lombard Jr.’s sac fly a batter later.
Five runs in the first three innings of a game felt like manna after some of the stretches of offensive offense we’ve seen this year, but then it started to feel like not enough. Machado’s home run and needing relievers from the sixth on meant that it was just a four-run game, and a couple baserunners paired with another big hit can make a lead like that disappear quickly.
Yet, despite being in the tack-on portion of the game from the third on, they couldn’t really tack-on. After that fifth run scored the Yankees loaded the bases with one out, and Austin Wells scorched a liner that became a double play. The first two batters of the fifth, Rice and Ramos again, reached and were left stranded. They loaded the bases in the sixth, just to see pinch-hitter Luis García Jr. watch strike three to end the threat.
Then in the SEVENTH the Yankees put the first two runners on in strange fashion, with a challenge-assisted hit by pitch giving first base to Lombard Jr., and a challenge-assisted catcher’s interference letting Spencer Jones on. José Caballero gave himself up with a sac fly to move both men into scoring position…and that’s where they stayed. Austin Wells didn’t slam a line drive, instead a soft flyball that wasn’t deep enough to score even the speedy George, and Paul Goldschmidt went down swinging. You’d rather have a four-run lead than a four-run deficit of course but man I would have liked another run or two or six given the potential of what I described above.
Then again, the Yankees really only used one of their high-leverage relievers today (though David Bednar warmed up in the ninth) and the Padres managed just a single hit after the fourth inning. Michael Fulmer didn’t look good, putting two men on before Brett Headrick had to throw a single pitch to end the sixth, then it was pretty academic from there. I would have liked the team to make this one more of a laugher but you score five runs, with this pitching staff, that’s going to be enough most nights. I don’t know who John Schreiber even is but he got four outs without allowing a baserunner; what a team!
Unfortunately the Rays took care of business against the Rangers, making tomorrow’s series finale in San Diego even more important. We have a banger of a pitching matchup, with Gerrit Cole tapped for New York and facing his former teammate in Michael King. This is a really big series ahead of playing the Rockies, and taking it while on the road would go a long way to reassuring some of the concerns I have with this team, so go to it. First pitch on Sunday comes at 4:10pm Eastern, back on YES.
Box Score
