Rodon shaky, Yankees bats go cold in key spots against Mets
- Davis Cornell
- May 16
- 4 min read
The Mets took down the Yankees 6-3, setting up a rubber game tomorrow. Carlos Rodon made his second start of the season and faced off against Huascar Brazobán, the Mets opener for David Peterson.
Ben Rice, Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge went down in order in the top half of the first inning.
In the bottom half of the inning, Rodon navigated around a two-out single from Juan Soto and picked up his first strikeout of the ballgame to work a scoreless frame.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. lined a one-out double one hop off the wall in right in the top of the second inning. A few batters later, Trent Grisham came through with a two-out RBI single to left, giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead.
Rodon quickly picked up the first two outs of the bottom of the third, then allowed a double and walked back-to-back hitters to load the bases. A wild pitch from Rodon off the backstop that deflected back to Rodon, he then decided to try and throw home, and the throw was wild, allowing a second run to score, giving the Mets a 2-1 lead.
“Stupid play, tried to make a superhero play on the ball back, that's the one I got to eat,” Rodon said. “So, just got a little ambitious with that throw. So a mistake there, that can't happen.”
Rodon walked his third batter of the game with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. That walk came back to bite him as Brett Baty drilled an RBI double to right, making it a 3-1 ballgame and ending Rodon's night. Jake Bird took over for Rodon and picked up a strikeout to end the inning.
Final line for Rodon: 3.2 innings pitched, three hits allowed, three earned runs, walking three, and striking out six on 88 pitches. Rodon threw his fastball 43% of the time, the slider 26%, the sinker 22%, and the changeup 9%. Rodon topped out at 97.3 mph and averaged 94.9 mph on his heater; he had 12 total swings and misses.
“Physically, I feel good,” Rodon said. “Obviously, find some consistency throughout the week here and pick up the ball and go attack and compete in five days from now.”
With one out in the top half of the fifth inning, Rice was plunked, and Judge followed with a walk. Paul Golschmidt then lined a two-out RBI single the other way to make it 3-2.
The Mets got that run right back and some in the bottom of the inning. Bird came back out and surrendered a single and recorded the first out. Brent Headrick took over and walked Soto, then allowed a two-run double to Mark Vientos, making it 5-2.
Amed Rosario led off the sixth inning with a double, and Anthony Volpe then worked a one-out walk. But Austin Wells struck out, and Rice grounded out to strand Volpe and Rosario.
Headrick remained in the game for the bottom of the sixth and worked a 1-2-3 inning with a pair of strikeouts.
Judge led off the seventh inning with a double to left field. It looked like Belli flew out to right field, but Mets rookie right fielder Carson Benge dropped a routine flyball, allowing Judge to score and Belli to move up to second base. Goldy was then plunked, Jazz then laid down a bunt single to load the bases with nobody out. However, former Yankee Luke Weaver came in and struck out Rosario and Grisham, then Volpe bounced out to shortstop to strand the bases loaded with nobody out.
Tim Hill came in relief for Headrick in the bottom of the seventh inning and gave up a pair of singles to put runners at the corners with one out. Camilo Doval took over and allowed Vientos to drive in a run on an RBI groundout to make it 6-3.
Paul Blackburn got the call for the bottom of the eighth inning and worked a scoreless frame to keep the Yankees' deficit at three runs.
In the top of the ninth inning, Belli, Goldy and Jazz went three up, three down against former Yankee Devin Williams to set up a rubber game tomorrow.
The Yankees will look to win the series tomorrow with Elmer Rodriguez on the mound, facing off against Freddy Peralta. First pitch is scheduled for 1:40 p.m. ET on the YES Network.
My thoughts on the game: Just a frustrating game tonight, all around. This felt like a very winnable game for the Yankees, but they just couldn't come through with a big hit. The Yankees left 11 runners on base tonight and went 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position. Another rough start for Rodon, but it's only his second start of the IL and clearly isn't anywhere close to mid-season form yet. The bullpen struggled tonight, as Bird, Headrick, and Hill each gave up a run. Doval and Blackburn combined for 1.2 shutout innings. Judge, Goldy and Jazz all had multi-hit games. The Yankees outhit the Mets tonight, but it didn't matter because they couldn't come through with the big hit when it mattered most. The difference tonight was the seventh inning, when the Yankees had the bases loaded but could not score. All good if you win tomorrow and win the series, this game won't matter; onto tomorrow.
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