Carlos Rodon was outdueled in his third consecutive start as the New York Yankees lost to the San Francisco Giants 5-3. The Yankees need Rodon to be a stopper in the starting rotation and to win games, but he is not. Some thought that pitching at home would be good for him, and it was a little warmer. It is a little puzzling how the Yankees’ bats have gone cold recently. One would have thought the 8-run outburst yesterday would have gotten them going, but that was not the case. Will Rodon be able to bounce back?
Lineups For the Game
The Giants had Heliot Ramos batting first and playing left field. Willy Adames played shortstop and batted second. Jung Hoo Lee batted third and played center field. Wilmer Flores was the designated hitter and batted fourth. Matt Chapman played third base and batted fifth. Luis Matos was the right fielder and batted fifth. Lamont Wade Jr. was the first baseman batting sixth. Casey Schmitt was the first baseman and batted seventh. Patrick Bailey was the catcher and batted eighth. Christian Koss was the second baseman and batted ninth.
For the Yankees, Ben Rice led off and was the designated hitter. Aaron Judge batted second and played right field. Cody Bellinger was the center fielder batting third. Paul Goldschmidt was the first baseman batting fourth. Jazz Chisholm Jr. batted fifth and was the second baseman. Anthony Volpe batted sixth and played shortstop. Jasson Dominguez played left field and batted seventh. J.C. Escarra was the catcher batting eighth. Oswaldo Cabrera was the third baseman and batted ninth. Austin Wells pinch-hit for him in the ninth inning.
Scoring Summary: Giants Against Carlos Rodon
The Yankees took a 1-0 lead when Goldschmidt drove in Judge with a run-scoring single in the first inning. Escarra had an RBI double in the second to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. The double drove in Dominguez, who had doubled. Rice then singled for the Yankees, he drove in JC Escarra to extend the lead to 3-0.
In the fourth inning, Lee hit a home run for the Giants. That was a solo home run that cut the Yankees’ lead to 3-1. In the sixth inning, Rodon hung a curveball to Lee, who hit a three-run home run, which gave San Francisco a 4-3 lead. The Giants scored a run in the seventh inning on a costly error by Goldschmidt on a groundball to first base by Koss. Casey Schmitt scored. That gave San Francisco a 5-3 lead. In the eighth inning, Chisolm Jr. hit a solo home run, breaking a 0-of-24 drought. That cut the San Francisco to 5-4.
Notes From the Game
It was 53 degrees and partly cloudy at game time in The Bronx. The weather has been a story in this series against the Giants. It has been rainy and cold, but not today. Rodon used to pitch for the Giants. Before the game, Giants Starting Pitcher Logan Webb had a 1.89 earned run average. There is a 32-inch drop on his sinker.
Also coming into the game, Judge was tied for the home run lead in Major League Baseball at 6. Among the players he was tied with is Mike Trout, who is off to a hot start.
Koss, who played second base for the San Francisco Giants, entered the game looking for his first major league hit. He got a hit in the sixth inning. A squibber, but a line dive in the box score. It was just the second hit for the Giants. This is the last time the Yankees and Giants will square off in The Bronx. Judge’s double in the first inning was his 503rd extra-base hit. That ties him for 18th place on the Yankees all-time list, tying him with Paul O’Neill.
Conclusion
The Yankees pay Rodon to win games. Rodon did strike out the first batter of the game, but he made a crucial mistake. With a win, the Yankees would have taken 2 of 3 games from the red-hot Giants. They came into the game at 10-4.
The Yankees were 8-6 with their big win yesterday. Now the Yankees face the Kansas City Royals for the next 3 games (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday). The series will reprise the American League Division Series from last season. The Yankees will be glad to get Clarke Schmidt back in this series. He is a valuable addition to the starting rotation.
