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Try it freeTAMPA — Carlos Rodón’s stretches of dominance over his last few starts had been followed by “buts” because of walks that give way to costly, game-wrecking home runs.
On Friday, there were no ifs, ands or buts about it, only zeroes.
While Rodón still walked four batters, they served as just footnotes rather than land mines as he struck out nine across six shutout innings in the Yankees’ fifth straight win, 1-0 over the Rays at Steinbrenner Field.
“I think it’s just one of those things where I can’t give in,” said Rodón, who did not allow a home run for the first time this season. “Just conviction in the pitch I’m throwing and competing. Just refuse to give in.”
The Yankees (13-7) needed Rodón to be just about perfect because runs were difficult to come by against Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen, though an RBI single from Trent Grisham to score Paul Goldschmidt (3-for-4) in the second inning was enough to get by.
The pitching and defense took care of the rest, as the Yankees put together a highlight reel in the field and then got scoreless innings from Mark Leiter Jr., Fernando Cruz and Luke Weaver — who each struck out two — to slam the door shut.
“Defensively, we were pretty impeccable,” Rodón said.
Rodón let out a scream after his 102nd and final pitch of the night struck out Danny Jansen to end the sixth inning, finally making it through an outing without a few bad pitches sabotaging it.
Tampa Bay Rays during the second inning of a baseball game
on Friday, April 18, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. AP
On a warm night when his velocity was up across the board (including an average fastball of 95.8 mph, up 2.1 mph from his season average), Rodón scattered just two hits.
It did not look great at the start, as the left-hander walked the first batter he faced on five pitches and then gave up a single as his pitch count quickly mounted a night after Will Warren lasted just 1 ²/₃ innings.
But Rodón buckled down, striking out the next three batters to get out of it unscathed and settle into his outing.
The walks remain a concern — he has issued 16 across 29 innings this season — but on Friday he made sure they did not derail him.
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“I thought it was a little bit of a grind for him, actually, tonight,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I think his last two were actually better, they just put two swings out of the ballpark. So he kind of grinded his way. Stuff was good. But I liked the way he just kept moving, kept moving, next pitch, next pitch.
“There were some struggles in there from some command issues at times, but he was able to make a big pitch it seemed like all night long.”
The Yankees played some terrific defense throughout the night to help keep the shutout intact.
In the seventh against Leiter, that came in the form of a strong relay to nail the leadoff man at third base.
Jonathan Aranda drilled a fly ball that landed on the warning track in center field, but Grisham fielded it and fired to Volpe, who delivered a perfect throw to Oswaldo Cabrera for the out.
In the fourth, Volpe was at the heart of another gem.
The shortstop is in the midst of a rough stretch offensively — going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts Friday — but he has not let it affect his defense at all.
Curtis Mead led off the frame with a ground ball into the hole, but Volpe stretched out to snag it and then, with his momentum going away from first base, fired a throw that Goldschmidt picked on a hop for the out.
“[Volpe] is just such a tremendous athlete,” Rodón said. “He’s so good with his glove. Getting extra outs for us there is huge, especially on a day when I walked four and he’s just cutting down outs there.”
Goldschmidt, who went 3-for-4 for his 10th multi-hit game of the season, also had some heady defense in the fifth. With a runner on third and one out, the Yankees infield was playing in when Taylor Walls hit a sharp grounder to first.
Goldschmidt fielded it and ran right at Jose Caballero, who was stuck in no-man’s land between third and home and was eventually tagged out.
“Just a lot of really good things,” Boone said, “where you kind of needed to be perfect.”
