New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodon looked better but still couldn't get back into his previous winning ways after falling 3-2 to the Cincinnati Reds.
After a seven-start win streak, the $162 million lefty is now 0-4 with a 10.89 ERA in his last four starts. But he looked better against the Reds, going 5.1 innings and allowing three earned runs on three hits.
After the game, Rodon reacted to Yankees manager Aaron Boone's decision to lift him with one out in the sixth inning:
Said Rodon, “I don't want it to come off the wrong way. I wanted to stay in and get those last two outs in that inning, but I understand turning it over to Tonkin, and he gets two outs easy. He's great.”
It's natural for any starting pitcher to want to stay in to finish the job, relatively speaking, doubly so after the struggles Rodon has had over his last handful of starts. The two-time All-Star struck out eight and walked two in 5 1/3 innings — but it wasn't the result he was seeking.
Removed after 95 pitches, Rodon walked slowly off the mound to mild applause from a Yankees sellout crowd of 47,646 on Fireworks Night and yelled into his glove as he approached the dugout.
Carlos Rodon not the only struggling Yankees starter
Rodon is not the only starting pitcher that is slumping for the Yankees. Rookie Luis Gil lost his third-straight start, allowing four runs and two hits in four-plus innings with three walks and two hit batters in New York's 5-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday.
After going 9-1 with 2.03 ERA in his first 14 outings, Gil is 0-3 with a 14.90 ERA in his last three.
Gil got off to a solid start for the Yankees on Tuesday before things fell apart. He retired nine in a row before Reds star Elly De La Cruz led off the fourth with a drive into the right-field corner for his sixth triple of the season. He scored when Jeimer Candelario grounded out on the next pitch. De La Cruz also homered in the fifth inning.
Said Boone on the rookie's struggles, “I don't think this is a fatigue issue. I think it's a little out-of-sorts issue and having a harder time correcting on the fly.”
“Maybe the delivery wasn’t quite what I wanted,” Gil said via the team’s Spanish interpreter. “I can’t pinpoint exactly why.”
“Just mechanically syncing your body to the point where you can feel comfortable, and like I mentioned before,” Gil said, per Brendan Kuty, “sometimes you hit bumps when you’re competing at this level. But at the same time, I feel sure of myself that working hard I will be able to get out of it and not let things like that keep happening.”
Yankees pitcher Marcus Stroman takes the mound on Thursday as New York looks to bounce back against the Reds and avoid being swept.
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