Rodon falters, bullpen collapses as Yankees drop series to Boston

New York—The Yankees' pitching cost them in a big way in an 11-7 loss to the Red Sox, and they lost the series. Carlos Rodon got the start for the Yankees, and Hunter Doobins got the nod for the Red Sox.

Rodon retired the Red Sox in order in the top of the first inning and picked up his first strikeout of the ballgame. 

Ben Rice led off the bottom of the first inning with a line drive single to right field. Aaron Judge then quickly made it 2-0 as he launched his 22nd home run of the season 436 feet the other way off of Dobbins. For those who don’t know the story about Dobbins, he grew up a massive Yankees hater and in the past said, “I would rather retire than play for the Yankees.” So Judge taking him deep right away was nice.

"I really didn't hear about it until, I think, Eduardo Perez told me before the game," Judge on Dobbins' comments. "But I've only heard King Griffey say that, so I was a little surprised." 

In the bottom of the second inning, Trent Grisham ripped a single right down the first base line. But it was quickly erased due to a double play off the bat of DJ LeMahieu. 

Rodon worked around a two-out walk in the top of the fourth inning as he worked another scoreless frame and picked up a strikeout. 

In the top of the fifth inning, Rodon walked the eighth hitter with two outs, then the ninth hitter, Kristian Campbell, found the short porch a solo bomb to make it a 2-2 game. 

DJ quickly responded with a porch job of his own, a solo shot to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead. 

In the top of the sixth inning, Rodon plunked the leadoff batter, then walked the batter to quickly put two runners on with nobody out.  The next batter, former Yankee Carlos Narváez, launched a three-run home run to give the Red Sox the lead and knock Rodon out of the game. Frendado Cruz replaced Rodon on the mound. Cruz picked up two outs and loaded the bases. Tim Hill took over for Cruz in a bases-loaded jam and immediately served up a two-run single to make it a 7-3 game. 

Carlos Rodon's final line: five innings pitched, three hits allowed, five earned runs, three walks, 15 swings and misses, and five strikeouts on 90 pitches. Rodon threw his fastball 40%, the slider 37%, the sinker 12%, the changeup 7%, and the curveball 4% of the time. Rodon looked solid for the most part tonight, just got portched in the fifth inning, then unfortunately lost the strike zone in the sixth inning and probably should have never faced Narváez.

"Yeah, I mean, just falling behind when just giving out free passes," Rodon said on what he was struggling with in the fifth and sixth. "They did some damage, you know, they took advantage of it and, you know, just falling behind hitters and giving out free bases, it's just it's a no-go." 

Judge worked a walk in the bottom of the sixth inning—the next batter, Cody Bellinger, singled to left field. Paul Goldschmidt then drew a walk to load the bases, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. drove in a run to make it a 7-4 game with a sacrifice fly. The next batter, Anthony Volpe, lined an infield single right off the pitcher to reload the bases. The Grisham worked a RBI walk to make it a 7-5 game.

Jonathan Loáisiga replaced Hill in the top of the seventh and retired the Red Sox in order. 

Loáisiga remained in the game for the top of the eighth inning and immediately served up a back-to-back solo home runs to Abraham Toro and Trevor Story to make it a 9-5 game. Brent Headrick took over for Loáisiga on the mound and picked up the final two outs of the frame. 

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Goldy Knocksl led things off with a single right back up the middle. A couple of batters later, Volpe laced a double right down the third base line to put two runners in scoring positions with one out. But Grisham went down on strikes, and DJ flew out to strand two runners in scoring position. 

 Headrick remained in the game for the top of the ninth inning and immediately served up a solo home run to Rafael Devers to make it a 10-5 game. A couple of batters late,r Toro picked up an RBI double to make it an 11-5 game as this had been a pathetic pitching performance by the Yankees all weekend long, giving up a combined 27 runs across three games. Ian Hamilton replaced Headrick and recorded the final out of the inning. 

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Austin Wells worked a leadoff walk, and a couple of batters later, Judge launched his second two-run home run of the night to make it an 11-7 game. But Volpe went down on strikes to end this one as the Yankees lost the series. 

"Message is keep going," Judge said on what his message is to the rest of the team following a tough series loss. "Yeah, we've lost a couple of series already this year. You know, it's just another series, got a big one coming up with Kansas City. We played in the postseason. Guys are having great at-bats, making great plays. You know, when we play the Red Sox, it's gonna be a series like this, you know, kind of back and forth. They have a beginning. We have one back. That's baseball. So just go back to work. You don't know, nothing different. " 

The Yankees will have a much-needed off day tomorrow, then start a new series on Tuesday night in Kansas City against the Royals in an ALDS rematch. Max Fried will get the start for the Yankees, and Noah Cameron will get the nod for the Royals. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:40 p.m. ET on the YES Network. 

My thoughts on the game: It's hard to win games when you give up five home runs in a game. Rodon didn't have his best stuff tonight, but did enough to keep the Yankees in the game. However, the bullpen completely sold any chance the Yankees had at winning this series. Loáisiga, Cruz, and Headrick all struggled tonight out of the bullpen, giving up a combined six runs. The offense was great for most of the series, but it's hard to win a series when you give up 27 runs in three games. On to Tuesday to take on the Royals.