Against an opponent the Yankees could well face a month from now, Carlos Rodón continued his run of strong outings.
At least for the time being, though, that won’t be much solace after Rodón was charged with the loss in the 11-1 defeat to the Tigers on Wednesday.
It’s hard to be frustrated with Rodón’s six innings of two-run ball, but a lackluster fifth inning ended up being enough to end his string of wins.
Facing the bottom of the Tigers order, Rodón got himself into trouble after giving up a base hit to catcher Dillon Dingler.
He then walked Parker Meadows on four pitches before hitting Javier Báez to load the bases, a temporary loss of control on a night when Rodón otherwise commanded the strike zone.
“Was trying to throw that slider down and in,” Rodón said. “Hit him in the foot. Just gotta be better in that situation.”
It looked like Rodón might get out of the jam as he struck out Jahmai Jones for the second out of the inning, but Gleyber Torres — just 24 hours after returning to Yankee Stadium for the first time as an opposing player — singled to score two runs.
That was the only blip on the radar for Rodón, who didn’t face more than four batters in any of his other five innings, struck out six and gave up two or fewer runs for the seventh straight start.
“You sign up for six innings and two runs where he kind of cruised all night,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Had the one tough inning where he battled and then goes back out and finishes strong in the sixth there to give us a chance.”
Unlike Rodón’s six previous starts, though, it didn’t get the Yankees the win.
Of course, Rodón was far from the reason for that on a night when the lack of hitting and the bullpen both held responsibility for the defeat.
A year ago, Rodón looked like an unreliable option going into the postseason, with his first two seasons as a Yankee pockmarked by inconsistency. He then posted a 5.60 ERA in four playoff starts.
Whatever inconsistency was there in the past, though, is long gone this year. Wednesday was Rodón’s first credited loss since July 21, and it came largely because the run support wasn’t there.
Rather than a question mark, Rodón is someone the Yankees will be confident to have on the mound down the stretch and — if they make it that far — in the postseason.
Wednesday did nothing to change that calculus.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
