BOSTON – The last time Carlos Rodón pitched at Fenway Park, the left-hander began an abysmal five-start stretch that frequently saw opponents pouncing on fastball.
However, his heater served him well on Sunday night in an 8-2, series-clinching win for the Yankees. Of the 105 pitches Rodón threw over 6.1 innings against the Red Sox, 42 were four-seamers. The fastball yielded 11 whiffs as Rodón struck out seven and walked one while allowing two runs on Monster-clearing solo shots to Rob Refsnyder and Connor Wong.
Both homers came in the fourth inning.
Rodón, still working to be less predictable, used his changeup as his No. 2 pitch, throwing it 28 times. The off-speed offering induced nine whiffs.
Rodón totaled 25 swings and misses on Sunday, the third-most in a game in his career, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.
Carlos Rodon used his 4-seamer just 40% of the time tonight, his 4th fewest usage in an outing since 2021.
6 of the 7 lowest usage outings have come in the last 2 months. pic.twitter.com/LHVXzBN8db
— . (@HalToHell) July 29, 2024
Sunday marked Rodón’s second strong start in a row after he held the Rays to one earned run over seven innings on July 22. In six starts before that, he had a 9.67 ERA.
Rodón left a runner on with one out for Jake Cousins in the seventh, and the right immediately allowed a soft single to put men on the corners. However, Cousins bounced back quickly, striking out two batters before recording two more outs in the eighth.
Meanwhile, the Yankees offense stayed hot and jumped out to an early lead once again.
Alex Verdugo, swinging the bat better of late, started things off with a double off The Monster. Aaron Judge then shot an RBI single the other way before Gleyber Torres, also finding his groove, knocked a two-run single.
The fourth inning saw Austin Wells score on a Ben Rice sac fly following a Boston error. Wells added a run with a sac fly of his own in the seventh before Oswaldo Cabrera plated two more with a ground-rule double in the eighth.
That frame featured two more Red Sox errors, including one to start the inning.
While the Yankees enjoyed another strong night at the plate, Jazz Chisholm Jr. went 1-for-5 with a single and a strikeout in his Yankees debut. Batting fifth and playing center, he also misplayed a ball in center during Rodón’s rough fourth, which led to a Rafael Devers triple, and took a spill rounding second in the ninth.
Chisholm appeared shaken up at first and was tended to by trainers, but he stayed in the game, stole third and scored on a DJ LeMahieu sac fly.
With Chisholm’s debut and a series win in the books, the Yankees will head to Philadelphia for a three-game set that overlaps with Tuesday’s trade deadline.
The Yankees still need more help, particularly in a bullpen that logged a lot of innings in Boston. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the team add another bat and a starter.
In the meantime, Luis Gil, Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cortes are scheduled to start against the Phillies, baseball’s best team.
Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Cristopher Sánchez will start for Philadelphia, which led the National League in ERA entering Sunday.
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