The New York Yankees had a difficult series against the Washington Nationals, losing the final two games of the three-game set and dropping their lead over the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East to just one game. However, they may have had a legitimate excuse as to why they were struggling.

After Wednesday's 5-2 loss to the Nationals, starting pitcher Carlos Rodon spoke with YES Network about having issues with the PitchCom and how that contributed to his poor performance.

“The balk… the PitchCom wasn't working, and it was what it was. I should have stepped off first and confronted them about the PitchCom, and I gave up a stupid run there,” Rodon said. “In Game 2, we had some issues with PitchCom, wasn't expecting it this start. I was just focused on going out there and competing. I really wasn't worried about the PitchCom.”

“I've used signs before. When I first got to the league, that's all we had. We didn't have PitchCom,” Rodon continued. “I didn't mind using signs, but I just wished we went to that sooner with the issues we were having.”

Rodon gave up five runs and eight hits through 5 2/3 innings against the Nationals, including a run on a first-inning balk that Rodon later attributed to PitchCom issues. The Yankees' PitchCom issues also allowed the Nationals to dominate the basepaths. They stole five bases on Wednesday, with three of them coming from rookie outfielder James Wood.

Rodon also allowed a leadoff home run to Nationals rookie Dylan Crews, the first of his young career. Crews made his major-league debut on Monday and recorded his first career hit, a double, on Tuesday.

The Yankees will try to return to form with a three-game weekend set against the St. Louis Cardinals starting on Friday.

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What is PitchCom?

New York Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Rodon (55) reacts after having a ball called him against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Nationals Park.
© Rafael Suanes-USA TODAY Sports

In 2022, Major League Baseball implemented the use of PitchCom technology in order to increase the pace of play and curb sign stealing.

Instead of pitchers and catchers having to use hand signals or mound visits to communicate what pitches to throw, catchers could instead use a keypad attached to their wrist to send a message to a speaker in the pitcher's ear that would tell them what pitch to throw.

While there have been some issues with it in the past, the PitchCom has been highly effective for the most part and is generally well-liked by pitchers and catchers across baseball.

Rodon and the Yankees just seem to have had some bad luck with the problems they had with it during their series against the Nationals.