Jul 28, 20236 min read

Carlos Rodón Gets First Win as a Yankee in Subway Series Debut

Carlos Rodón, starting pitcher for the New York Yankees. Photo credit: Brad Penner of USA Today Sports

It is four months into the MLB season and Carlos Rodón finally brought in his best game as a New York Yankee.

In the second game of the Yankee Stadium portion of the Subway Series, Rodón got his first win with the team in his fourth start, allowing one run through 5 2/3 innings in a 3-1 victory for the Bronx Bombers over the New York Mets.

It's encouraging for Rodón, who had a rough start with the Yanks after he signed with them on a six-year, $162 million deal in December during the free agency period. He missed the first three months of the season because of injuries to his forearm and back, then he had a 7.36 ERA, losing his first three starts, and even sarcastically blew a kiss to a mocking fan above the Angel Stadium visiting dugout.

This time around, no sarcastic kiss was needed, as he allowed just one run and four hits. He was looking to stay in for the last batter of the 6th inning, but manager Aaron Boone signaled for him to get to the bullpen, though this effort form him has Boone ready for more efforts like these from Rodón.

He struck out four, walked three, and got a lot of cheers from the many Yankees fans in attendance as he exited the mound.

One of those strikeouts was on Pete Alonso to end the 5th inning. Alonso, who had two home runs and five RBI in the first game, went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.

He showed improvement on his fastball and slider while limiting the Mets to just one run, that coming on Brandon Nimmo's 3rd inning sacrifice fly ball. No more scoring came for the Mets after that, as he retired Alonso on a line drive to left with two runners on bases.

His game allowed the Yanks to get an offensive spark from Harrison Bader, who had three hits and scored twice, including a sprint to home plate where he dove headfirst.

Their early runs were driven by Oswald Peraza, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Anthony Volpe off Mets' starter José Quintana. Volpe got a nice jump and beat third baseman Mark Vientos' throw to second on the RBI grounder from Peraza. Bader scored on the dive on Kiner-Falefa's sacrifice fly to right, where it was Jeff McNeil making the sliding catch before he popped a strong throw to home plate.

Bader had another score for the Yanks on Volpe's base hit after a throwing error by Vientos.

The Yankees' bullpen, which has been a hole on their team as of late, came up in the clutch. The quartet of Michael King, Wandy Peralta, Tommy Kahnle, and Clay Holmes retired all 10 batters they faced, with Holmes getting his 14th save of the season.

Quintana was charged with three runs, two of them earned, and six hits through six innings in his second start for the Mets after he missed the first three-and-a-half months of the season because of rib surgery.

Though McNeil made some great catches in the game, one to deny Gleyber Torres a home run on a jumping grab in the 5th, it wasn't enough for the Mets.

Injuries

Mets: Right fielder Starling Marte (migraines) is feeling better and is working out, but manager Buck Showalter did not plan on activating Marte from the IL when first eligible as his wife is due to give birth soon. McNeil fired his helmet in frustration after he got blased by Rodón's fastball in the 4th inning. He was clearly shaken up, and was checked by an athletic trainer during the game. McNeil apologized to Rodón later in the match. Tommy Pham (groin) was back in the lineup as the team's designated hitter after he sat out for the first game.
Yankees: Right fielder Aaron Judge (toe) returned to the Yankees after he played another simulated game at the team's complex in Tampa, Florida. Boone has not ruled out the possibility of Judge coming off the IL when the team takes on the Baltimore Orioles on Friday.

For the City

New York Liberty All-Star Sabrina Ionescu threw the ceremonial first pitch before the game. Ionescu scored 37 points in the Three-Point Contest during the WNBA All-Star Skills Competition, the highest ever among any player in the NBA or WNBA, two weeks earlier.

Scoring

NYY, Bottom 2nd: Oswald Peraza grounded into fielder's choice to third, D.J. LeMahieu scored, Anthony Volpe to second, Harrison Bader to third. 1-0 NYY
NYY, Bottom 2nd: Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit sacrifice fly to right, Harrison Bader scored, Anthony Volpe to third. 2-0 NYY
NYM, Top 3rd: Brandon Nimmo hit sacrifice fly to left, Francisco Álvarez scored. 2-1 NYY
NYY, Bottom 4th: Anthony Volpe singled to right, Harrison Bader scored, Volpe to second. 3-1 NYY

Batting

NEW YORK METS

Brandon Nimmo: 3 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, .260 batting average, .356 on-base percentage, .443 slugging percentage
Mark Vientos: 4 at-bats, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, .220 batting average, .266 on-base percentage, .288 slugging percentage
Francisco Lindor: 2 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 2 walks, 0 strikeouts, .230 batting average, .318 on-base percentage, .450 slugging percentage
Pete Alonso: 4 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, .216 batting average, .313 on-base percentage, .499 slugging percentage
Tommy Pham: 4 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, .266 batting average, .349 on-base percentage, .464 slugging percentage
Jeff McNeil: 3 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, .249 batting average, .325 on-base percentage, .323 slugging percentage
Mark Canha: 2 at-bats, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, .237 batting average, .337 on-base percentage, .376 slugging percentage
1. Brett Baty: 1 at-bat, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, .230 batting average, .292 on-base percentage, .351 slugging percentage
Francisco Álvarez: 4 at-bats, 1 run, 1 hit, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, .234 batting average, .292 on-base percentage, .496 slugging percentage
Danny Mendick: 3 at-bats, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, .083 batting average, .154 on-base percentage, .167 slugging percentage

NEW YORK YANKEES

Isiah Kiner-Falefa: 2 at-bats, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 RBI, 0 home runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, .256 batting average, .317 on-base percentage, .372 slugging percentage
Gleyber Torres: 4 at-bats, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, .264 batting average, .330 on-base percentage, .435 slugging percentage
Giancarlo Stanton: 4 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, .200 batting average, .278 on-base percentage, .442 slugging percentage
1. Greg Allen: 0 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, .200 batting average, .294 on-base percentage, .533 slugging percentage
Anthony Rizzo: 4 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, .246 batting average, .331 on-base percentage, .388 slugging percentage
D.J. LeMahieu: 1 at-bat, 1 run, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 3 walks, 1 strikeout, .231 batting average, .307 on-base percentage, .372 slugging percentage
Harrison Bader: 4 at-bats, 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, .259 batting average, .289 on-base percentage, .432 slugging percentage
Anthony Volpe: 2 at-bats, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 RBI, 0 home runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, .212 batting average, .286 on-base percentage, .379 slugging percentage
Kyle Higashioka: 3 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, .216 batting average, .253 on-base percentage, .358 slugging percentage
Oswald Peraza: 3 at-bats, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 RBI, 0 home runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, .173 batting average, .328 on-base percentage, .192 slugging percentage

Pitching