Pinstripes premiere: Rodón shows little rust in Yanks debut

NEW YORK -- Carlos Rodón made his way across the Yankee Stadium outfield grass ahead of his pinstriped debut, the top buttons of his uniform jersey unfastened on a steamy evening, and what began as a crowd murmur evolved into a full-throated roar.

It felt like an event, and the Yankees hope that Rodón’s successful outing was just the first of many to come. Unfortunately for them, Jameson Taillon held the bats in check, outperforming Rodón by permitting just one hit over eight innings in the Yankees’ 3-0 loss to the Cubs.

“It was nice to finally pitch in the pinstripes at Yankee Stadium,” Rodón said, “but this was not the way I wanted to start.”

The night underscored the urgency for the Yanks’ slumbering offense to find a level of consistency. Catcher Kyle Higashioka called their production “unsustainable,” correctly noting, “You can’t win this way. If you score zero runs, I think it’s typically impossible to win.”

Against that, Rodón’s long-awaited appearance at least provided electricity. Having spent the season’s first 88 games on the injured list, Rodón showcased pieces of the arsenal that prompted the Yankees to sign him to a six-year, $162 million contract this past offseason, permitting two runs over 5 1/3 innings.

“I thought Carlos was really good,” manager Aaron Boone said. “[The Cubs] came out with a game plan, really selling out to that heater. They were aggressive to it and took some good swings, but because he had the life there and was executing at the top of the zone, he was really pitch-efficient.”

Limited to just one start this spring by a forearm strain that preceded a bout with back tightness, Rodón showed few signs of rust, averaging 95.5 mph with his fastball and touching 97.4 mph in a 69-pitch effort.

“I was pretty impressed with the fastball, and the secondary stuff was there, too,” Higashioka said. “I thought it was definitely a change of pace from the guys I normally catch. It’s kind of fun, almost, doing something new. I thought he looked really good.”

Rodón retired the first six batters before Cody Bellinger reached the second deck with a solo home run. Nico Hoerner later added a run-scoring single off Rodón, who scattered four hits and walked two, striking out two with a wild pitch.

“That first inning was pretty loud, especially when we got to two strikes in the first inning and got that first punchout [of Ian Happ],” Rodón said. “It was nice to hear the crowd. It was good.”

On paper, the showdown against Taillon appeared to be a mismatch. The Cubs starter entered play on Friday with a 6.93 ERA, the highest in the Majors among pitchers with 60 or more innings this year -- a significant drop-off from his previous two years with the Yankees, where he posted a 4.08 ERA in 61 regular-season starts.

Though the Yankees did manage hard contact against Taillon (six of their outs came off the bat at 100 mph or greater), the Cubs parked their fielders in the right spots. Taillon retired 23 of 26 batters faced for the Cubs, who had previously been 0-12 in the Bronx all time, including the postseason, with an 0-5 record at the current Yankee Stadium.

“I was on the attack,” Taillon said. “I feel like I was in a lot of good counts. For once, I had a lot of hard-hit balls right at people. They did square some balls up. I do feel I made a lot of good pitches throughout the night.”

Said Boone: “We had some good at-bats mixed in there, but not enough. We’ve got to mount more than that.”

Gleyber Torres’ first-inning single represented the only hit off Taillon, as the Yanks absorbed their fourth shutout loss of the year, joining fruitless efforts on April 29 at Texas, May 17 at Toronto and May 31 at Seattle.

“I think we can turn it around. We’ve got a lot of guys that can hit,” Rodón said. “We’re in a rut right now, and I think someone will step up. We’ve seen some good swings from [Anthony] Volpe, some good swings from J.D. [Josh Donaldson]. There’s been some good swings from the group, but these last few days, it’s been a little rough.”