Yankees' Carlos Rodón dominates ALCS Game 1 win over Guardians

NEW YORK – Before the biggest start of his life, Carlos Rodón took advantage of the resources that come with being a New York Yankee.

And then he justified the significant investment New York has made in his burly left arm.

On Monday night at Yankee Stadium, Rodón lived up to the expectations the Yankees had for him when he signed a six-year, $162 million contract ahead of the 2023 season. Two seasons of injury-plagued, erratic teeth-gnashing at a 4.74 ERA were all but forgotten with every hit and miss by a Cleveland Guardian, every zero hanging on the scoreboard.

And in Game 1 of this American League Championship Series, Rodón not only joined the postseason party burgeoning in the Bronx, but also showed that he may be a big reason the Yankees might hang up World Series banner No. 28 .

New York posted a 5-2 win and secured a 1-0 ALCS lead, thanks in no small part to its literal and financial power. Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton each deposited home run balls in the outfield bullpens. Freshman closer Luke Weaver snuffed out a blitz in the eighth, thwarted the game-winning run at the plate and continued his perfect postseason run by striking out the team in the ninth and recording a five-out save.

But it was Rodón who gave the Yankees the edge, making up for many of his regular-season deficiencies with six dominant innings when it mattered most.

“Tonight he was the driver,” said Stanton, who capped the Yankees' score in the seventh inning with a 439-foot smash to left field, passing Yogi Berra and Reggie Jackson for his 13th^Th Postseason career home run.

“He showed how prepared and focused he was.”

The Yankees are three wins out of the World Series for the first time since 2009 and are now 4-1 this postseason; This one flaw belongs to Rodón.

He had a great performance in Game 2 of the Division Series against Kansas City, blowing through three scoreless innings and cheering in a manner befitting a sprint rather than the long-range performance that characterizes a successful run in October.

Still, he hit the wall and blew the lead in the fourth inning that night, giving up all four runs and failing to finish the frame. With star Gerrit Cole making the game-winning shot in Kansas City and Rodón receiving the ball in Game 1 in the ALCS, it simply couldn't happen again.

So Rodón listened and learned. He received a “debrief,” as pitching coach Matt Blake put it, from his pinstripe mentor, fellow lefty Andy Pettitte, about channeling emotions in the postseason. He watched and learned as it looked like Cole would flatline for six innings in Kansas City's decisive game and only let it all out when he pitched in the 21st^st from the game.

Rodón made it even better for him.

He started the night with a win in a nine-pitch battle with arguably baseball's toughest hitter, Steven Kwan, the Guardians' leadoff hitter. He finished it with a nine-pitch battle against Cleveland's perennial All-Star Jose Ramirez.

The switch-hitter smoked the final pitch to center field, where Aaron Judge darted into the gap to track down the ball.

It was Rodón's 93rd^approx Pitch. His night was certainly over. But even then, he kept what he called Cole's “poker face” and simply pointed appreciatively at the 6-7 referee.

“The goal was to just stay in control of what I could do, obviously physically and emotionally,” Rodón says. “I thought I did a good job tonight.

“I saw Gerrit pitch the fourth game in Kansas City and I made mental notes about how he went out there and how he went about it and I just wanted to approach it the same way.”

At one point, Rodón retired 11 straight batters and 13 of his last 15 batters. He racked up an astonishing 25 swings and misses, almost all with his deadly fastball-slider combination, striking out nine and walking not a single one.

Soto and Stanton's bookend home runs were complemented by a dismal performance from Guardians starter Alex Cobb and reliever Joey Cantillo, who combined to walk six batters and record nine outs. Cantillo threw two bases-loaded wild pitches that allowed Judge and Stanton to come home with add-on runs.

Brayan Rocchio ended Rodón's shutout push with a leadoff homer in the sixth, and Cleveland nearly ambushed the Yankees with three consecutive eighth-inning singles from reliever Tim Hill. This only sped up Weaver's performance – to a techno version of Gary Wright's “Dream Weaver”. In his fourth save of the postseason, he struck out four of the six batters he faced.

Cole will start Game 2. The Yankees are ready to take command before this series moves to Ohio.

“There are three left,” Stanton says. “So we know that's good, but in our eyes we haven't done anything yet.

“We need to win three games out of six, and that’s three out of three for us.”

Still, the Yankees found it hard to ignore the significance of winning Game 1, the fact that he was the leading man in the matter, and the way Rodón had adjusted since his last time out.

“There was a little excitement about how the outing ended last time after being so sharp so early,” says Blake, the pitching coach. “To see him come in and go six solid innings, I thought it was great for everyone, including him. To put this trip behind you and now prepare for the next one.

“He was very aware of how the last game ended and how early the emotions drained away from him. And after every inning you could tell he was trying to stay calm and neutral and keep racking up outs.”

Blake said that when Rodón's emotions ran high, the Royals “acknowledged that and talked about it. And it's like we don't have to disclose that to the other team.”

No worries. On Monday, Rodón was mediocre all night, a trait that will serve him well if he is needed for a start in Game 5. At the moment it would be difficult to top this performance as a career highlight.

“There’s no bigger stage in baseball,” Rodón says, “so I’d say she’s definitely up there.”

Well, there is an even bigger stage. And Rodón has brought the Yankees that much closer to that goal.

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