Carlos Rodon’s inefficient Yankees outing draws boos from Bronx crowd
It was turn back the clock night for Carlos Rodon at Yankee Stadium on Friday, which was bad news for the Yankees.
The left-hander, who has rebounded well after a disastrous first season in The Bronx, reverted back to his 2023 form against the Braves as he gave up eight runs — seven earned — in just 3 ²/₃ innings.
And then he got booed off the mound by a crowd that watched too many of those performances from Rodon a year ago.
“They came out swinging and did some damage on the fastballs,’’ Rodon said of the Braves hitters’ success against his four-seamer. “Two pitches in, two runs down. Just turn the page on that one. That was rough.”
Rodon was referring to ex-Mets prospect Jarred Kelenic getting a base hit on the first pitch of the game and Ozzie Albies followed on the second pitch from Rodon by hitting it into the left-field seats for a lightning-quick 2-0 Atlanta lead.
Austin Riley hit a solo shot later in the inning, and the rout was on — but not before Rodon could be seen yelling in the Yankee dugout after the top of the first.
“Just pissed off at the situation and emotions got going,’’ Rodon said. “Three runs down, I was a little fiery there.”
Aaron Boone said he had no problem with Rodon’s display.
“We’re playing for a lot,’’ Boone said. “[I have] no issue with his intensity coming out. He wanted and expected more.”
It didn’t get much better as Rodon allowed more runs than he has all season.
And the 11 hits he surrendered Friday were the most by Rodon since giving up 12 to the Yankees in a 2016 start with the White Sox.
The results could have been even worse as the first two batters reached in the second and third innings and Rodon escaped each having given up just one run each time.
Rodon gave up a two-run shot to Matt Olson in the fourth.
An RBI double from Sean Murphy later in the inning finally ended Rodon’s night after 93 pitches.
The outing was not what the Yankees were looking for after Gerrit Cole pitched four-plus innings in his season debut Wednesday and Luis Gil delivered the worst Yankees start of the season Thursday when he lasted just 1 ¹/₃ innings.
Rodon was coming off a rough outing in Boston in which the Red Sox tagged him for five runs in five innings.
In both of those starts, according to Rodon, opposing batters attacked his fastball early.
The pitch was especially ineffective Friday. Each of Atlanta’s first five hits came off the pitch, as did two of the three homers Rodon allowed.
The lefty and pitching coach Matt Blake will likely work on mixing in some of his secondary pitches sooner for his next start.
“This is part of it,” Boone said of Rodon’s recent woes that have seen his ERA jump from 2.93 to 3.86 in two starts. “It’s been a rough week for us. In a lot of ways, it’s not the worst thing to happen. We’ll get through this stretch here and Carlos will, too.”
