Composed Rod¨®n takes 'robot' cue from Cole as Yanks grab Game 1
Bryan Hoch
@BryanHochNEW YORK ¨C In the hours ahead of his assignment in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, Carlos Rodón promised he would not think much about baseball. Instead of poring over scouting reports on Jos¨¦ Ram¨ªrez or Josh Naylor, the left-hander was rolling around with his kids in a submarine-themed tent, playing the role of ¡°sea monster¡± in a very off-Broadway production.
Sure, Rod¨®n understands the expectation of delivering nights like this one, when he fired six strong innings in the Yankees¡¯ 5-2 victory over the Guardians at Yankee Stadium to give New York a 1-0 series lead in the ALCS. But, as he remarked in a near-empty clubhouse late on Monday evening, ¡°I¡¯m a dad first.¡± That helped: as a certain songstress might have advised, he needed to calm down.
¡°The goal was to just stay in control of what I can do, physically and emotionally,¡± Rod¨®n said. ¡°I thought I executed that well tonight.¡±
Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton launched homers and Aaron Judge lifted a sacrifice fly for his first RBI of this postseason, helping power the first playoff victory of Rod¨®n¡¯s career. The nine-strikeout, three-hit gem was exactly what the Yankees envisioned when they signed Rod¨®n to a six-year, $162 million contract before last season.
¡°That was a dominant performance. That was really good to see,¡± manager Aaron Boone said. ¡°He is intense; he is emotional at times. I thought he commanded all that so well. That¡¯s what he¡¯s capable of when he¡¯s dialed in like that.¡±
In all best-of-seven postseason series, teams winning Game 1 have gone on to take the series 123 of 191 times (64%). In series under the current 2-3-2 format, teams winning Game 1 at home have gone on to take the series 66 of 99 times (67%).
¡°There¡¯s still three to get,¡± Stanton said. ¡°We know this is good, but in our eyes, we haven¡¯t done nothing yet.¡±
There had been some debate within the Yankees hierarchy about handing the ball to Rod¨®n for Game 1, an understandable pause stemming from how quickly his first playoff start in pinstripes had unraveled. Deep into Sunday evening, decision-makers were still toying with starting right-hander Clarke Schmidt in the opener.
Boone said they ultimately decided it would be a better call to trust Rod¨®n, hoping that he would be able to channel his energy more effectively than in ALDS Game 2 against the Royals, when Rod¨®n struck out the side in an electric first inning but had appeared emotionally spent by the fourth.
Rod¨®n said that he studied how Gerrit Cole handled his ALDS Game 4 start at Kansas City, remarking that the ace right-hander looked ¡°like a robot¡± until his final inning, when he unleashed a primal scream coming off the mound. That provided a template Rod¨®n aimed to emulate.
¡°Mentally, I was taking notes on how he was going out there and going about it,¡± Rod¨®n said.
Said Cole: ¡°That¡¯s a compliment from Carlos. I appreciate that. I think that¡¯s what we¡¯re all trying to strive to do, is get in the competitive mindset and stay in there as long as we can.¡±
Like the Royals¡¯ Maikel Garcia had teased, Rod¨®n would not celebrate too early this time. One voice that Rod¨®n leaned upon belonged to Andy Pettitte, who provided a debrief of the Game 2 start, offering a few tips on how he¡¯d controlled similar moments during his career.
Cleveland couldn¡¯t figure him out; Rod¨®n was touched only by Brayan Rocchio¡¯s sixth-inning solo homer. Showcasing his fastball (52) and slider (25) heavily, he generated 25 swings and misses -- tied for the fourth-most in a postseason game since pitch tracking began in 2008.
¡°He was great. He was the driver tonight,¡± Stanton said. ¡°He showed how prepared and focused he was.¡±
Pitching coach Matt Blake said that he could tell Rod¨®n was sharp in the first inning, when he pitched around a single and a passed ball. Blake could see Rod¨®n¡¯s confidence grow as the outing continued.
¡°He was very aware of what the last outing ended up being, how the emotions got away from him early,¡± Blake said. ¡°After each inning, you could tell he was trying to stay steady and be neutral about it, and just keep collecting outs.¡±
Soto hit his first homer of this postseason, a third-inning shot off Alex Cobb, who was charged with three runs and five hits over 2 2/3 innings. Joey Cantillo followed Cobb and fired four wild pitches, two of which came in the third inning and allowed runs to score, with Judge and Stanton trotting home.
Judge lifted a fourth-inning sacrifice fly before Stanton sent his second homer of this postseason into the visitors¡¯ bullpen, a seventh-inning shot off Erik Sabrowski. After an obstruction call at first base led to an eighth-inning Cleveland run off of Tim Hill, Luke Weaver locked down the final five outs for his fourth save of the postseason.
Asked about Rod¨®n¡¯s effort, Weaver said: ¡°I thought it was quite amazing, to be honest. He had a lot of swings and misses, which just tells us the stuff was on point. A lot of punchouts, which is always fun. I told him after the game, going six strong innings like that -- especially in a game that¡¯s still close ¡ I was really proud of him.¡±