Rodón grabs the reins in Yankees' 7th straight win

NEW YORK -- Carlos Rodón reached for the baseball, gesturing toward the first-base dugout for his manager to stay put. There were two outs in the sixth inning on Sunday afternoon, and the Yankees left-hander craved one more batter, aiming to empty the tank with a strikeout.

Aaron Boone nodded, holding his position near the top step. Rodón kept his word, pumping three high-90s pitches past Korey Lee for his sixth strikeout, wrapping another solid outing. The Yankees coasted to their seventh straight win, completing a sweep of the White Sox with a 7-2 victory at Yankee Stadium.

“I wanted that last one,” Rodón said. “I checked the dugout and gave him a little sign, like, ‘Hey, I’ve got this. This one’s mine.’ I’m glad he left me in.”

Across the Yanks’ win streak, their starting pitchers have posted a 7-0 record with an 0.80 ERA (four earned runs in 45 innings). Each starter has tossed at least six innings while permitting two runs or fewer, the first time New York has achieved that feat since July 4-11, 2010.

“We’ve just been clicking on all cylinders,” said Jon Berti, who connected for his first Yankees homer, a go-ahead three-run shot in the fourth inning. “Starting pitching, bullpen, offense, defense. It’s just been a lot of fun when you’re playing baseball like that.”

Jose Trevino continued to swing a hot bat with a two-run single, and Aaron Judge reached the short porch in right field for his 13th homer, a two-run blast in the fifth inning. The homer was Judge’s seventh in 13 games.

“We take a lot of pride in being the bottom of the lineup,” Trevino said. “Just try to have good at-bats for the big boys. Get on base and let those guys do their job.”

The outing marked Rodón’s first career start against the White Sox, for whom he pitched from 2015-21 before signing a one-year deal with the Giants, which he parlayed into a six-year, $162 million deal with the Yankees prior to the 2023 season.

“Going up against your former club is a big deal,” Rodón said. “I definitely wanted to beat them.”

After Rodón’s debut campaign with the Bombers was marred by injuries, including forearm and back issues that curtailed his spring and forced him to play catchup all year, he has returned as a confident and reliable contributor in 2024.

“I sit down in the dugout now and look around, and I feel pretty comfortable sitting in this stadium,” Rodón said. “I thought about that the first month here in April. I’m looking around and I’m like, ‘This doesn’t feel overwhelming anymore. This feels like home.’”

Rodón permitted two runs in a shaky second inning, as Corey Julks homered to left field and Zach Remillard tripled home a run.

But Rodón escaped that frame thanks to a deft move from his Platinum Glove catcher, Trevino, who picked Remillard off third base with a no-look snap throw to Berti.

“That was a pretty good play by Trevino,” said White Sox manager Pedro Grifol. “It’s actually a designed play; I’ve seen it done before with [Yadier] Molina in St. Louis. I remember us talking about it at one point.”

Berti had signaled to Trevino to put the play on. With Martín Maldonado at the plate, Trevino pointed toward first base umpire Tripp Gibson for a potential check-swing call.

“In the moment, I thought I saw [Remillard] get off a little bit,” said Trevino, who remained tight-lipped about the mechanics of the play. “Just keeping him honest.”

Said Berti: “It’s just the timing of it; Trevi paying attention and myself paying attention. [We’re] reading the runner at third and taking a chance there with two outs. It was big.”

From there, Rodón cruised, scattering four hits and two walks across a 99-pitch effort. Boone said that Rodón’s changeup “was a real factor for him today,” and when Rodón got in trouble, he had the required heat to power out of the jam.

Most notably, Rodón pitched out of a two-on, no-out spot in the fourth by registering three straight strikeouts. Of that sequence, Rodón said, “I had my back against the wall. I knew I had to go get some fastballs in that moment. That’s what I save them for.”

Though Boone noted that Rodón had been under the weather this past week, his performance indicated otherwise. Rodón has won his past three starts dating to May 8, posting a 2.45 ERA over that span.

“My goal is to go out there and think about getting 18 outs every time I come to the field,” Rodón said. “The goal is to start with 18 outs, and we’ll go from there. I just want to give my team a chance to win. That’s it.”