Carlos Rodon‘s strong pitching and Alex Verdugo‘s homer powered the Yankees to 3-2 win over the Marlins on Tuesday. It was their fourth win in a row. The Yankees now have a 10-2 record, which is the best in Major League Baseball so far this season.
Rodon pitched really well for the Yankees against the Miami Marlins. He allowed only two runs in over six innings, and those runs were not earned because of errors made by the Yankees’ defense behind him. Alex Verdugo also helped the Yankees by hitting a home run over the outfield fence.
Their 10-2 start is just as good as some of the greatest Yankee teams ever, back in 1922, 1949, and 2003. Those were legendary seasons for the Yankees franchise.
When Rodon left the game, the fans gave him a big ovation to thank him for his excellent pitching performance that led to the victory against Miami. Even though a couple of runners scored, it was not Rodon’s fault, so Yankees fans appreciated how well he pitched on the night.
Yankees’ Rodon returns
For six whole innings, Rodon didn’t allow any runs to be scored. But in the seventh inning, a few Marlins players got on base. It wasn’t all Rodon’s fault though, as there were errors made by the Yankees’ defense too.
Even with that trouble in the seventh, Rodon still pitched good enough for the Yankees to beat the Marlins 3-2. This was his fourth win since joining the Yankees on a big $162 million contract last year. In his three starts so far this season, Rodón has only allowed a few runs, giving him a very low 1.72 ERA.
The night before, Nestor Cortes pitched eight scoreless innings against these same Marlins. Rodon followed that up by not allowing any runs himself for the first six innings – a first for him in his 17 starts with the Yankees.
Though Rodon couldn’t finish the game with a shutout, he still left the mound to cheers and a standing ovation from the crowd. Those two runs scored against him didn’t count as earned runs because of the fielding errors.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone took Rodon out and brought in Ian Hamilton to finish the inning. Hamilton got one batter to ground out and another to fly out, though that sacrifice fly did allow Miami to score and make it 3-2.
Verdugo makes Yankees victorious
Verdugo really enjoyed hitting his first home run at Yankee Stadium while wearing the pinstripes. He even dropped to one knee after swinging at A.J. Puk’s pitch and watched the ball sail into the stands. When it landed a few rows back in right field, he couldn’t help but raise his arm as he trotted around the bases.
As he made his way back to the dugout, Verdugo was greeted by his teammates who were ecstatic, jumping up and down and celebrating loudly. This was in reference to Verdugo’s earlier encouragement of his teammates, calling them “dawgs” after a successful series in Houston.
And it wasn’t just a one-time thing for Verdugo. The next night, he hit another homer, adding to his impressive performance where he got three hits and reached base four times.
Other Yankees pitched in
Giancarlo Stanton hit a really good ball in the fifth inning, getting an RBI double. Earlier, in the third inning, he almost got another hit, but Bryan De La Cruz made an amazing catch at the left field warning track to stop it. Juan Soto, who has been batting really well with an average of .348, also did great. He got on base three times and even got an RBI single in the sixth inning.
The Yankees doubled their lead in the fifth.
Juan Soto got on base because of an error and the Yankees had a good chance to score more runs with two outs. Anthony Volpe had a tough at-bat, but unfortunately, it ended with a flyout to right field.
Later on, Soto scored another run in the sixth inning with a hit up the middle, bringing the score to 3-0. This run turned out to be the winning one.
In the seventh inning, the bases were loaded after a ground ball went under Anthony Rizzo’s glove and an infield single by Tim Anderson. Pinch-hitters Jesús Sánchez and Nick Gordon then batted, scoring runs against Ian Hamilton and ending Miami’s streak of not scoring for 16 innings.
Hamilton continued to pitch well in the eighth inning, not allowing any runs. Clay Holmes finished the game strongly in the ninth inning, getting his fifth save out of six chances.
The roster
The next game
The Yankees vs. Marlins game on Wednesday will see Marcus Stroman (1-0, 0.00 ERA) taking the mound in pinstripes and against Ryan Weathers (0-1, 4.00).
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