Yankees outgunned by rival Red Sox as Carlos Rodon struggles
BOSTON — At least by the lofty standards the Yankees’ rotation has set for itself this season, this qualified as a clunker.Carlos Rodon reeled it in before it became a full-on, five-alarm fire, but the damage already was done by that point.The Red Sox jumped on Rodon for five runs in the first two innings, which was enough to hand the Yankees an 8-4 loss on Saturday night at a sold-out Fenway Park.Rodon has spent most of this season distancing himself from a brutal 2023, but the first two innings Saturday were reminiscent of his struggles last season.The Red Sox (36-35) made him work, forcing him to throw 62 pitches just to record six outs, at which point they had racked up five runs on seven hits (most of them bullets) and two walks.The left-hander went on to retire 10 of the final 11 batters he faced across five innings to keep the Yankees (50-23) within striking distance, though a comeback never fully came to fruition, setting up a rubber game on Sunday night.Trailing 6-3 in the eighth inning, the Yankees threatened against former teammate Greg Weissert, who was part of the return in the Alex Verdugo trade.
They loaded the bases with one out and got one run on DJ LeMahieu’s fielder’s choice.But closer Kenley Jansen entered to retire Anthony Volpe before the Red Sox tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the inning to ice it.Rodon entered the night having pitched at least six innings and given up three runs or fewer in seven straight starts.But the Red Sox came out firing against him and peppering the Green Monster to take a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
Jarren Duran led off with a double that one-hopped the wall and came around to score when Tyler O’Neill lined a double off the Monster.After Rafael Devers drew a walk, Connor Wong roped a single up the middle to make it 2-0.One out later, Jamie Westbrook (who spent 2023 with the Yankees’ Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre) drilled another double off the 37-foot, two-inch wall in left field to pu...