Composed Rodón takes 'robot' cue from Cole as Yanks grab Game 1

NEW YORK – In the hours ahead of his assignment in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, Carlos Rodón promised he would not think much about baseball. Instead of poring over scouting reports on José Ramírez or Josh Naylor, the left-hander was rolling around with his kids in a submarine-themed tent, playing the role of “sea monster” in a very off-Broadway production.

Sure, Rodón understands the expectation of delivering nights like this one, when he fired six strong innings in the Yankees’ 5-2 victory over the Guardians at Yankee Stadium to give New York a 1-0 series lead in the ALCS. But, as he remarked in a near-empty clubhouse late on Monday evening, “I’m a dad first.” That helped: as a certain songstress might have advised, he needed to calm down.

“The goal was to just stay in control of what I can do, physically and emotionally,” Rodón said. “I thought I executed that well tonight.”

Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton launched homers and Aaron Judge lifted a sacrifice fly for his first RBI of this postseason, helping power the first playoff victory of Rodón’s career. The nine-strikeout, three-hit gem was exactly what the Yankees envisioned when they signed Rodón to a six-year, $162 million contract before last season.

“That was a dominant performance. That was really good to see,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He is intense; he is emotional at times. I thought he commanded all that so well. That’s what he’s capable of when he’s dialed in like that.”

In all best-of-seven postseason series, teams winning Game 1 have gone on to take the series 123 of 191 times (64%). In series under the current 2-3-2 format, teams winning Game 1 at home have gone on to take the series 66 of 99 times (67%).

“There’s still three to get,” Stanton said. “We know this is good, but in our eyes, we haven’t done nothing yet.”

There had been some debate within the Yankees hierarchy about handing the ball to Rodón for Game 1, an understandable pause stemming from how quickly his first playoff start in pinstripes had unraveled. Deep into Sunday evening, decision-makers were still toying with starting right-hander Clarke Schmidt in the opener.

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Boone said they ultimately decided it would be a better call to trust Rodón, hoping that he would be able to channel his energy more effectively than in ALDS Game 2 against the Royals, when Rodón struck out the side in an electric first inning but had appeared emotionally spent by the fourth.

Rodón said that he studied how Gerrit Cole handled his ALDS Game 4 start at Kansas City, remarking that the ace right-hander looked “like a robot” until his final inning, when he unleashed a primal scream coming off the mound. That provided a template Rodón aimed to emulate.

“Mentally, I was taking notes on how he was going out there and going about it,” Rodón said.

Said Cole: “That’s a compliment from Carlos. I appreciate that. I think that’s what we’re all trying to strive to do, is get in the competitive mindset and stay in there as long as we can.”

Like the Royals’ Maikel Garcia had teased, Rodón would not celebrate too early this time. One voice that Rodón leaned upon belonged to Andy Pettitte, who provided a debrief of the Game 2 start, offering a few tips on how he’d controlled similar moments during his career.

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Cleveland couldn’t figure him out; Rodón was touched only by Brayan Rocchio’s sixth-inning solo homer. Showcasing his fastball (52) and slider (25) heavily, he generated 25 swings and misses -- tied for the fourth-most in a postseason game since pitch tracking began in 2008.

“He was great. He was the driver tonight,” Stanton said. “He showed how prepared and focused he was.”

Pitching coach Matt Blake said that he could tell Rodón was sharp in the first inning, when he pitched around a single and a passed ball. Blake could see Rodón’s confidence grow as the outing continued.

“He was very aware of what the last outing ended up being, how the emotions got away from him early,” Blake said. “After each inning, you could tell he was trying to stay steady and be neutral about it, and just keep collecting outs.”

Soto hit his first homer of this postseason, a third-inning shot off Alex Cobb, who was charged with three runs and five hits over 2 2/3 innings. Joey Cantillo followed Cobb and fired four wild pitches, two of which came in the third inning and allowed runs to score, with Judge and Stanton trotting home.

Judge lifted a fourth-inning sacrifice fly before Stanton sent his second homer of this postseason into the visitors’ bullpen, a seventh-inning shot off Erik Sabrowski. After an obstruction call at first base led to an eighth-inning Cleveland run off of Tim Hill, Luke Weaver locked down the final five outs for his fourth save of the postseason.

Asked about Rodón’s effort, Weaver said: “I thought it was quite amazing, to be honest. He had a lot of swings and misses, which just tells us the stuff was on point. A lot of punchouts, which is always fun. I told him after the game, going six strong innings like that -- especially in a game that’s still close … I was really proud of him.”