Carlos Rodon Leads New York Yankees In Rubber Game 3

Carlos Rodon had a great opportunity in the game in Houston tonight. Rodon could take over the solo American League lead in pitcher wins with 16. He pitched very well and got the win he needed, as the Yankees won 8-4. The Astros struggle to score runs, and the hearty left-hander led the charge.

Rodon faced relative newcomer Cristian Javier. Javier had only started four games coming into this one; he is coming off Tommy John surgery. That probably scared the Yankees, who tend to struggle with pitchers they have not seen before. Do you think Rodon is the ace of the Yankees’ staff?

Lineups For the Yanks In Support Of Carlos Rodon

The Astros had Jeremy Pena leading off and playing shortstop. Yordan Alvarez was the left fielder and batted second. Jose Altuve batted third and was the designated hitter. Carlos Correa batted fourth and was the third baseman. Christian Walker was the first baseman and batted fifth. Yainer Diaz was the catcher and batted sixth.

Cam Smith was the right fielder and batted seventh. Jesus Sanchez pinch-hit for him in the seventh inning and stayed in to play right. Ramon Urias was the second baseman and batted eighth. Victor Caratini pinch-hit for him in the ninth inning. Mauricio Dubon was the center fielder and batted ninth. Taylor Trammell Pinch-hit for him in the seventh inning and stayed in to play center.

For the Yankees in support of Rodon, Trent Grisham played center field and led off. Ben Rice was the first baseman and batted second. Paul Goldschmidt came in for him in the seventh inning. Aaron Judge was the designated hitter and batted third. Cody Bellinger was the right fielder and batted fourth.

Giancarlo Stanton was the left fielder and batted fifth. Jasson Dominguez pinch ran for him in the eighth inning and stayed in to play left field. Jazz Chisholm Jr. was the second baseman and batted sixth. Jose Caballero came in for him in the fourth inning. Austin Wells Jr. was the catcher and batted seventh.  Anthony Volpe was the shortstop and batted eighth. Ryan McMahon was the third baseman and batted ninth. 

News and Notes

Last night’s game was a disastrous loss for the Yankees. They needed a big start from Rodon. On Wednesday, Devin Williams came into a tie game and promptly gave up a double and three walks, including one walk with the bases loaded. Both Williams and Yankee Manager Aaron Boone were ejected. Then Camilo Doval came into the game and poured gasoline on the fire.

With one more home run, Judge will break his tie with Yogi Berra on the Yankees’ all-time home run list. He is close to Joe DiMaggio on the Yankees’ all-time home run list. In all likelihood, he will pass DiMaggio this season. Both Judge and Stanton are on the list of Major League Baseball’s top 10 power hitters.

Game Reaction

Stanton started this game in left field. It is the third consecutive game he has started there. That is important. If Stanton plays the field, then both he and Judge can be in the batting order. That is crucial since Stanton and Judge are two of the most feared hitters in baseball.

Alvarez is a good player for the Astros. It is a little surprising they were able to stay in first place despite Alvarez missing about one hundred games with a hand injury. He had four hits last night in his return to the lineup, and he hit a long home run in the third inning tonight. By the seventh inning, he had four hits.

Scoring Summary

In the second inning, McMahon singled and Wells scored. The Yankees took a 1-0 lead. In the third inning, Alvarez hit a solo home run. The game was tied at 1. In the fifth inning, McMahon hit a solo home run, and the Yankees led 2-1.  Then Bellinger singled and Grisham scored; the Yankees took a 3-1 lead. Caballero walked, and Rice scored. The Yankees led 4-1.

In the sixth inning, Correa reached on an error, and Alvarez scored. It was 4-2 Yankees. Here we go again, 2 errors and counting in an ugly inning. However, Carlos Rodon deserves props for getting through the inning. In the seventh inning, Sanchez hit a solo home run. The Yankees now led 4-3. In the ninth inning, McMahon got a single and Dominguez scored. It was now 5-3 Yankees, and they got the run they needed. Then Grisham hit a three-run home run, and McMahon and Wells scored. The Yankees led 8-3. In the ninth inning, Alvarez singled and Caratini scored. The Yankees led 8-4.

Conclusion

The Yankees needed a good start from Rodon tonight, following the Yankees’ terrible loss last night. He came into this game with a .181 batting average against, which was the best mark in Major League Baseball. He did well to get out of trouble when he had runners on base and the Yankees’ hitters were opportunistic against Javier, who was just off the injured list.