McMahon, Rodon, and the bullpen lift the Yankees to a series finale win

New York—The Yankees salvaged the final game of the series 4-3 to avoid being swept by the Phillies, thanks to a great performance from the bullpen. Carlos Rodon got the starting nod for the Yankees and faced off against NL Cy Young contender Zack Wheeler.

Rodon worked a 1-2-3 top of the first inning and picked up his first two strikeouts of the ballgame in the process. 

Trent Grisham, Ben Rice, and Cody Bellinger went down in order for the Yankees in the bottom half of the first inning. 

Nick Castellanos got the scoring started for the Phillies in the top of the second inning via a solo home run to give the Phillies a 1–0 lead. A couple of batters later, Otto Kemp launched a solo home run of his own to make it a 2-0 game. 

In the bottom of the second inning, Giancorlo Stanton led things off with a rocket single in the right-center gap. The next two batters, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jasson Dominguez, were both plunked to load the bases with nobody out. The next batter, Ryan McMahon, shot a two-run double down the first base line to make it a 2-2 game. A couple of batters later, Austin Wells came through with a sacrifice fly to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead. The next batter, Grisham, delivered a two-out RBI single to make it a 4-2 game. 

"Yeah, just got a pitch I can handle the boys stacked some good at-bats in front of me, loaded them up, and I just thought I could come through," McMahon said. 

Cody Bellinger led off the bottom of the third inning with a triple, but was eventually thrown out trying to tag up on an unbelievable tag from the Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto.

Rodon retired the Phillies in order in the top of the fourth inning thanks to a beautiful leaping catch from McMahon at third base. Rodon also recorded two more strikeouts to put his total up to seven in the ballgame. 

Rodon served up his third solo home run of the game in the top of the fifth inning and the second of the game, for Kemp, to make it a 4-3 game. McMahon made another beautiful diving play to take away an RBI single from Trea Turner. 

"More good plays. I mean, the play makes on Turner and kind of the ease with which he does it was pretty impressive," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said on McMahon. "A couple of other good ones and then obviously a big hit there in the inning where we're able to put together a big inning. So yeah, it was really good to see.”

In the top of the sixth inning, Rodon picked up the first out, then was replaced by Jonathan Loáisiga. Loáisiga, who has an 8.10 ERA in his last 11 outings, picked up the final two outs of the frame. 

Carlos Rodon's final line: 5.1 innings pitched, four hits allowed, three earned runs, one walk, 20 swings and misses, and eight strikeouts on 90 pitches. Rodon threw his fastball 34% of the time, the slider 27%, the sinker 22%, the changeup 16%, and the curveball 1% of the time. Rodon was solid today; he just got bitten by the long ball, giving up two home runs to Kemp, who came into this game with two career home runs. I would have liked to see them keep Rodon in to finish the sixth at just 90 pitches, but it is what it is. 

"You know, the offense swung the bat there, in the second inning, and answered back for me after the two solo shots," Rodon said. "And, you know, obviously, we all know how good Wheeler is. So, pretty impressive for us to put up four runs against him. And then, the bullpen came and shut down the game. And we came out with a win, and defensively we were great once again. So it was a good game."

Luke Weaver took over for Loáisiga in the top of the seventh inning and retired the Phillies in order on 13 pitches. 

Tim Hill was called upon to make his 50th relief appearance of the season in the top of the eighth inning, taking over for Weaver and retiring the top of the Phillies lineup in order.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Dominguez led things off with a bloop single to right field. Dominguez then stole second base, his 15th stolen base of the season. However, Dominguez was stranded in scoring position. 

The Yankees turned to their closer Devin Williams in the top of the ninth inning and picked up two strikeouts on a couple of nasty airbenders to pick up his 16th save of the season and help the Yankees avoid getting swept. 

The Yankees will start a new series tomorrow, welcoming the Tampa Bay Rays into town for a four-game set. Cam Schlittler will get the starting nod for the Yankees, facing off against Drew Rasmussen. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET on the YES Network. 

My thoughts on the game: First off, huge congratulations to CC Sabathia, who is being inducted into the Hall of Fame today and is giving his speech as I write this. CC will always be one of my favorite Yankees. The Yankees also traded for infielder Amed Rosario last night. Read my piece on that for more information on the trade.  As for the game, Rodon was really solid today, as his swing-and-miss stuff was working, with 20 whiffs and eight strikeouts. The bullpen also stepped up in a huge way as Loáisiga, Hill, Weaver, and Williams combined for 3.1 shutout innings to end this one. McMahon also stepped up big, making an instant impact in his second game as a Yankee with two hits, including a two-run double to tie the game up in the second inning, and made a couple of great plays in the field. On to tomorrow as the Yankees will face the Rays, looking to improve their 11-18 record against AL East opponents.

"Yeah, to be honest, you know, when they told me they're the initial reaction, I was kind of maybe like in between, couldn't really believe it," Rosario said on being traded to the Yankees. "But then, you know, at the end of the meeting, you know, I asked the guy to confirm, then traded to the Yankees."