Yankees 4-5 Giants: Rodon’s strong start spoiled as New York drop series to SF

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New York Yankees 4-5 San Francisco Giants

The Yankees fell short in their attempt to secure the series against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday afternoon, losing 5-4 in a tightly contested rubber match at Yankee Stadium. Giants ace Logan Webb earned the win, improving his record, while Yankees starter Carlos Rodon absorbed the loss, dropping to 1-3.

Rodon’s strong start unravels

Carlos Rodon started strong, showcasing excellent command through the first five innings. His lone early misstep was a fourth-inning solo homer surrendered to Jung Hoo Lee. Rodon struck out seven batters before trouble emerged in the sixth inning. After allowing an infield single to Christian Koss and a walk to Willy Adames, Rodon faced Lee again. This time, Lee capitalized on a hanging curveball, sending it deep into the right-field seats for a decisive three-run homer. This swing erased Rodon’s promising outing, leaving him with a final line of 5.2 innings pitched, three hits, four earned runs, three walks, and eight strikeouts.

Early Yankees offense fades

The Yankees had initially taken control against Webb. Paul Goldschmidt opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first inning, driving home Aaron Judge. The team added two more runs in the second inning on consecutive doubles by Jasson Domínguez and J.C. Escarra, followed by Ben Rice’s RBI single. However, Webb managed to steady himself and held New York scoreless over the next five frames despite occasional control issues, walking four between the fourth and fifth innings alone.

Webb exited after the fifth inning, making way for Hayden Birdsong, who provided San Francisco with outstanding relief work. Birdsong tossed two dominant innings, striking out three and allowing only a hit-by-pitch to Judge, extending his bullpen scoreless streak to nine innings this season.

Critical insurance run for Giants

San Francisco added an insurance run in the seventh inning. Casey Schmitt led off with a double against Mark Leiter Jr., scoring on a costly error at first base by Goldschmidt. Ian Hamilton relieved Leiter and managed to limit the damage but struggled with command in the eighth, issuing two walks before Tim Hill entered and extinguished any Yankee threats.

Chisholm breaks slump, Yankees fall short

The Yankees narrowed the deficit to a single run in the bottom of the eighth inning when Jazz Chisholm Jr. launched his fifth home run of the season off reliever Tyler Rogers. The blast was significant for Chisholm, snapping a concerning 0-for-22 slump, though his batting average remains at .169 in the early season.

Giants closer Ryan Walker shut down the Yankees in the ninth, despite facing New York’s most potent bats with the game on the line. Walker swiftly induced a weak fly-out from pinch-hitter Austin Wells and a ground-out from Rice, bringing Judge up as the Yankees’ final hope. Walker delivered a perfectly placed sinker on the outside corner for a called third strike, sealing the Yankees’ defeat.

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Yankees look ahead

With this loss, the Yankees dropped to an 8-7 record and suffered their second consecutive series defeat. They will look to bounce back quickly as the Kansas City Royals come to the Bronx in an ALDS rematch. Veteran Carlos Carrasco, off to a rough start this year, is set to face Seth Lugo, a 2024 AL Cy Young Award finalist. Monday’s game at Yankee Stadium starts at 7:05 pm ET, marking the continuation of a demanding stretch in the Yankees’ schedule, featuring 13 games in 13 days.

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