Yankees blanked in series finale; Rodríguez makes MLB debut

The Yankees dropped their final game of April 3-0 to the Ranges as the first full month of the season is officially in the books. The Yankees' No. 2 prospect, Elmer Rodríguez, made his MLB debut and faced off against former Yankee Nathan Eovaldi. 

“It was great,” Rodríguez said. “It's something I've been dreaming of my whole life. And just being out there, seeing the crowd, seeing the field, it's something special for me and for my family. And really excited. And obviously not the results, but move forward for that.”

Ben Rice lined a one-out single to right in the top of the first, but that would be all for the Yankees. 

In the bottom of the first inning, Rodríguez worked around a pair of walks thanks to a strike ‘em out throw 'em out for his first career punchout. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciScYBgXYTU

The Rangers loaded the bases in the bottom of the second on a couple of singles sandwiched in between a walk, but Rodriguez induced a flyout to keep it a scoreless ballgame. 

Rodríguez worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the third inning against the heart of the Rangers' order. 

Cody Bellinger lined a one-out single to left in the top of the fourth. Jasson Dominguez was plunked; after the Yankees trainers took a long look at him, he remained in the game for the time being. However, J.C. Escarra grounded out to strand Belli and Dominguez. 

Max Schuemann, who was called up yesterday, replaced Dominguez on defense in the bottom of the inning. Rodríguez worked a 1-2-3 inning with his third strikeout of the ballgame. 

“He was in some pain, had to leave the game, but right now that's what it is inconclusive,” Aaron Boone said of Dominguez. “So we get what they need tomorrow and hopefully you know have a diagnosis, and we'll see.”

The Rangers loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the fifth on a hit by pitch, a walk, and an infield single. Josh Jung then gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead on a two-run single through the left side of the infield to end Rodríguez’s debut. Brent Headrick took over and picked up three outs to limit the damage. 

Final line for Rodríguez: Four innings pitched, four hits allowed, two earned runs, walked four, and struck out three on 80 pitches. He threw his sinker 34% of the time, the fastball 29%, the slider 16%, the curveball 13%, the changeup 8%, and an unknown pitch 1%. Rodríguez topped out at 97.5 and averaged 95.5 on his heater and generated eight swings and misses today. 

“I thought I was competing,” Rodríguez said. “Obviously, I feel like I could have executed a little bit better, just missing a lot of pitches. So just trying to move forward from that, just work on it, and just try to be better.”

Headrick picked up the first out in the bottom of the sixth, then handed the baseball over to Jake Bird and recorded the final two outs of the inning. 

Bird came back out for the bottom of the seventh and served up a leadoff double. Sam Haggerty followed with an RBI single up the middle to extend the Rangers' lead to 3-0. Tim Hill replaced Bird and induced an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play. 

Rice singled to left center with two outs in the top of the eighth, his third knock of the afternoon. But Aaron Judge grounded out to third to end the frame and strand Rice at first. 

Fernando Cruz came in relief for Hill in the bottom of the eighth and navigated around a leadoff single and recorded a pair of strikeouts to work a scoreless inning. 

The Yankees went down in order in the top of the ninth to give the Ranges a 3-0 win. The Yankees ended its three city road trip 7-2. 

The Yankees will have an off day tomorrow before starting a 13-game stretch in 13 days, beginning with a three-game series against the Orioles in the Bronx on Friday. Will Warren will get the starting nod for the Yankees; the Orioles starter is TBD. The first pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. ET on the YES Network. 

My thoughts on the game: Eovaldi just flat-out shut down the Yankees today, which is going to happen in a 162-game season. Rodríguez really struggled with his command, but he is a 22-year-old making his MLB debut, so I believe many of those issues were due to nerves. Rodríguez’s stuff looked good; there was a lot to like about the kid. Headrick looked good out of the bullpen, as well as Hill and Cruz. Bird struggled a little bit, allowing a run, but with the offense getting shutdown it didn't make much of a difference. The offense just didn't do much at all, with just five hits, three of those from Rice. Dominguez left the game with a left elbow contusion; hopefully, he is okay, and it's not an IL situation. Really solid first month of the season for the Yankees as they are 20-11 with the best record in the American League. On to Friday, as the Yankees face a solid Orioles team. 

“It got me right in the elbow, and right now just swelling,” Dominguez said. “We do the X-ray today, and tomorrow I'm going to be doing a CT scan in New York and see what I got. But as of right now, I don't feel any concern.”