KANSAS CITY -- Carlos Rodón¡¯s shoulders slumped, his uniform top soaked with sweat, as he handed the baseball to manager Aaron Boone and began a slow and seemingly dazed trudge toward the visitors¡¯ dugout. Gazing toward the seating area, the Yankees pitcher mouthed one word: ¡°Wow.¡±

Wow, indeed. In an outing that he described as ¡°terrible,¡± Rod¨®n faced eight batters and could not retire any in a nightmarish first inning, concluding his trying first pinstriped season with a 12-5 loss to the Royals on Friday evening at Kauffman Stadium.

¡°It¡¯s pretty disappointing,¡± Rod¨®n said. ¡°There¡¯s not much else to say about it. Whenever your performance is bad, it¡¯s never easy to flush.¡±

The worst inning of Rod¨®n¡¯s career featured six hits, including a two-run Edward Olivares homer, and two walks.???

The sequence also included Rod¨®n turning his back on pitching coach Matt Blake during a mound visit, then later brushing past Boone after surrendering the ball, their shoulders making what appeared to be accidental contact. Boone said that he would have liked to see ¡°better mound presence.¡±??

¡°It wasn¡¯t great; definitely not the best move,¡± Rod¨®n said. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t happen. I was frustrated with myself and my performance. It¡¯s really embarrassing. Then doing that with Matt, coming out and trying to help me, I turned my back. I was not in the right mind, that¡¯s for sure. That¡¯s on me.¡±

Boone noted that Rod¨®n¡¯s velocity dipped (his four-seam fastball averaged 93.6 mph, down from his season average of 95.3 mph, and all his other pitches were down as well). Rod¨®n said that he ¡°tried to step on it a little bit,¡± but ¡°nothing was really working.¡±

¡°He just didn¡¯t have the life on his fastball, and [his] location was in the heart of the plate a lot,¡± Boone said. ¡°It¡¯s a tough way for him to end.¡±

The 10 Royals to reach base opening a game established a new Kansas City franchise record, surpassing their mark of eight (May 8, 2018, vs. the Orioles). It equaled the record for a Yankees opponent; 10 straight Cleveland batters reached on July 27, 1978, vs. Catfish Hunter and Bob Kammeyer.

With Rod¨®n lifted after 35 pitches (21 strikes), three inherited runners came around to score against reliever Matt Bowman. The eight runs allowed matched Rod¨®n¡¯s career high, done four times previously.

He¡¯s just the fifth pitcher in Major League history to allow at least eight earned runs and not record an out, most recently done by the Reds¡¯ Paul Wilson on May 6, 2005, against the Dodgers.

¡°He¡¯s been a great pitcher in the game for a while now,¡± said catcher Austin Wells, who hit a three-run homer in the loss. ¡°Throughout anyone¡¯s career, there¡¯s going to be ups and downs. I think he¡¯s shown that he can be a great pitcher and that he is a great pitcher. Today is a very large outlier in that.¡±

Signed to a six-year, $162 million contract this past offseason after starring for the Giants, Rod¨®n¡¯s first campaign as a Yankee was derailed by injuries, seeing him finish with a 3-8 record and 6.85 ERA in 14 starts.

Sidelined this spring with back tightness, Rod¨®n didn¡¯t make his debut until July 7, then missed time in mid-August with a left hamstring strain.

¡°I¡¯m not going to make any excuses about starting off the season with an injury,¡± Rod¨®n said. ¡°My job is to show up and compete when I¡¯m available. Unfortunately, that was halfway through the season. There were some OK starts sprinkled in, but mostly, it was pretty bad.¡±

For Rod¨®n, next year began immediately. As the clubhouse emptied, he remained in Boone¡¯s office, the door closed to their conversation.

A few moments earlier, Boone said he has ¡°no doubt¡± about Rod¨®n¡¯s talent, noting, ¡°Hopefully, we¡¯ll have this year be one of the things that throws a log on the fire to motivate you.¡±

¡°I¡¯m looking forward to taking a little bit of time for myself, getting away from baseball,¡± Rod¨®n said. ¡°When the time is right, hopefully in a couple of weeks after that, I¡¯ll get back into training. I¡¯m really focused on what I want to do on the mound and establish that.¡±