Carlos Rodón was solid as a pitcher and less solid as a fielder.
It added up to a start that was solid enough for the Yankees to play again on Thursday.
The Yankees lefty was charged with three runs on four hits and three walks in six-plus eventful innings, handing the ball to a bullpen that would not be touched in what became a 4-3, Game 2 nail-biter over the Red Sox in The Bronx on Wednesday.
“Definitely a battle,” Rodón said after helping the Yankees force a decisive Game 3 of the wild-card series. “They strung some good at-bats together, but defensively we had some great turns.”
There were several nice plays made behind Yankees pitchers, but Rodón picked a rough time to record his first error since 2021.
With the Yankees ahead 2-0 in the third, Boston put runners on first and second without an out to draw a Nick Sogard bunt. Rodón pounced on it toward the third base line and fired a ground ball to Jazz Chisholm Jr., who was covering first and had to come off the base to ensure the dirted ball didn’t head into foul territory.
Rodón did well to strike out Rob Refsnyder with the bases loaded, but Trevor Story’s single up the middle scored two and tied the game.
The third-year Yankee settled in during an outing in which he struck out six and threw 91 pitches — especially important considering the Red Sox used six relief arms in what ended up as a bullpen game — and fought through Red Sox batters and Aaron Boone in the sixth.
In the frame Rodón served up a no-doubter to Story that tied the game and prompted Fernando Cruz to begin warming. After Rodón walked Alex Bregman on four pitches, Boone approached the mound but did not signal for Cruz.
“Playing under Boone for three years now, I get a sense of the demeanor when he walks out,” Rodón said. “At times he makes a decision early, he points. But when I saw he crossed the line and didn’t put his arm up, I knew I had a chance at a rebuttal.”
The rebuttal: “I am staying in,” said Rodón, who then forced Romy Gonzalez to pop out and Carlos Narváez to ground the ball to Ryan McMahon, who started a nifty double play.
On this night Rodón required some help — notably from Cruz, who then bailed him out of a seventh-inning jam, and from Austin Wells, whose go-ahead RBI single provided the final run in the eighth.
“Got out of there with a win, so looking forward to tomorrow,” Rodón said.
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