Rodon battles, bats break out as Yankees end losing streak

New York—The Yankees snapped their six-game losing streak and avoided being swept by the Angels thanks to a 7-3 win. Carlos Rodon got the start for the Yankees, and Tyler Anderson took the ball for the Angels.

The Yankees were down 1-0 before you could even blink via a solo home run in the top of the first inning off the bat of three-time-MVP Mike Trout. 

In the bottom of the first inning, Paul Goldschmidt broke out of a 0-for-10 slide thanks to a double down the third base line. Cody Bellinger followed that up with an infield single to put runners at the corners with nobody out. A couple batters later, Giancarlo Stanton legged out an RBI fielder's choice to tie the game at 1-1. It looked like Belli was safe at second base on the fielder's choice, but even after review, they somehow still didn't get the call right. 

"I thought I was safe,” Belli said. “There was one angle, it's close. So, tough to really say, I thought I was safe."

In the top of the second inning with one out, Joe Adell just found the short porch in right field for his ninth home run in the last 18 games to give the Angels a 2-1 lead. 

Following the conclusion of the top of the second inning, the tarp was brought out onto the field, and the game entered the quickest rain delay you will ever see, just lasting eight minutes. 

DJ LeMahieu lined a two-out single the other way into right field. The next batter, Trent Grisham, launched a two-run home run, his 14th of the year, to make it a 3-2 Yankees lead.

Goldy Knocks made it back-to-back bombs, his eighth home run of the season, to extend the Yankees' lead to 4-2. 

Rodon worked an easy 1-2-3 top of the fifth inning and picked up his sixth strikeout of the game on a nasty slider. 

Taylor Ward launched a solo home run in the top of the sixth inning to make it a 4-3 game, the third solo home run Rodon has given up today. 

Jazz Chicholm Jr. lined a one-out single to left field in the bottom of the sixth inning. A couple batters later, Austin Wells legged out an infield single that hit Anderson in the shin area. Wells was then picked off to end the inning. 

Mark Leiter Jr. took over for Rodon on the mound and worked an easy 1-2-3 top of the seventh inning. 

Carlos Rodon's final line: six innings pitched, four hits allowed, three earned runs, one walk, 13 swings and misses, and seven strikeouts on 92 pitches. Rodon threw his slider 40% of the time, the fastball 37%, the changeup 13%, and the sinker 10% of the time. Rodon didn't have his best stuff today, but he did have his slider working and was still able to hold the Angels to just three runs, putting together a quality start.

"Three solo shots, obviously, I want to be in a better place with those pitches,” Rodon said. “So there's stuff to work on this week and be better at. All in all, we won the game."

"I thought his secondary stuff was good, not his best fastball today,” Boone said. “I didn't think his stuff was overwhelming like you see it some days... I thought he managed the game well."

Grisham lined a one-out double that one-hopped off the wall in right field. A couple batters later, Belli came through with an RBI single to make it a 5-3 game, his third hit of the game. 

Jonathan Loáisiga replaced Leiter on the mound in the top of the eighth inning and worked a scoreless inning thanks to a couple of nice plays from the Yankees' infield. 

Judge led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a much-needed double in the left-center gap, his first extra-base hit since Friday in Boston. Stanton then worked a four-pitch walk. The game then went into another rain delay, after about a 30-minute delay, Jazz laid down a perfect bunt single to load the bases with nobody out. The next batter, Anthony Volpe, drove in a run to make it a 6-3 game thanks to an RBI groundout. Austin Wells followed that up with a sacrifice fly to make it a 7-3 game. 

Devin Williams was called upon to pitch the top of the ninth inning and struck out the side to end this one 7-3 and snapped the Yankees ' six-game losing streak. 

The Yankees will start a new series tomorrow against the Orioles. Max Fried will get the starting nod for the Yankees, and the Orioles starter is still TBD. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET on the YES Network. 

My thoughts on the game: The Yankees finally get back in the win column. Rodon didn't have his best stuff today, but still turned in a quality start, striking out seven. The offense was great today, scoring seven runs and collecting 12 hits. Goldy Knocks got things started with a leadoff double and later launched a home run. Belli had three hits today, and Jazz had two hits as well. Grisham also launched a two-run bomb in the second inning and added a double later in the game. The bullpen was also great as Leiter, Loáisiga, and Williams all delivered scoreless innings. The Yankees' bullpen will get a boost tomorrow as Luke Weaver, who was expected to miss 4-6 weeks, could be activated off the IL after just two and a half weeks. On to tomorrow as the Yankees will hopefully look to at least take two out of three games from the Orioles.