Rodon Dominates. Bronx Bombers Bomb Away. NY 9 Tampa 1

Carlos Rodon pitched 7 innings of dominant, 2-hit baseball, and the Yankee bombers Bombed away — Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe starting it off with back-to-back Homers in the 2nd, and Juan Soto hitting 2 homers later on — as NY clobbered Tampa on a Monday afternoon game at Yankee Stadium.

There were good stories all around for the Yanks:

  • Rodon shutting down the Tampa lineup that had won the prior 2 games, including beating Nestor Cortes on Saturday;
  • Anthony Volpe (2 for 4) continuing to surge out of his slump;
  • Austin Wells (3 for 5) continuing to look like a keeper at catcher; and
  • Juan Soto being Juan Soto (3 for 4 with 2 homers, 4 RBI’s).

Aaron Judge went 2 for 5 too, Oswaldo Cabrera went 2 for 5, and even Alex Verdugo got a hit (1 for 3), and DJ LeMahieu hit his first homer of the season (1 for 3).

“Wells and I had a nice rhythm,” said Rodon afterwards. “Just a steady mix of everything; getting ahead; attacking the strike zone; worked with great defense behind me, and we swung the bat really well; guys hit some homers; and it was a good win.”

NY improves to 60-42 and pulls to within 1.5 games behind Baltimore, which didn’t play. Tampa falls to 50-50.

1. Wells & Volpe Start It Off

The Yanks were up against Tampa starter Zack Littell who came in with a 3-6 4.26 record. They pounced in the 2nd inning — Austin Well started it off with a homer to right.

Next batter Anthony Volpe continued to break out of his slump with a back-to-back homer to left and it was 2-0 NY. It was Volpe’s first homer since May 16th.

2. Rodon DOMINANT

Meanwhile Rodon started the game well — mixing his pitches from the start as he did in his last start — instead of trying to establish the fastball. He pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 1st, worked around a 1-out walk in the 2nd, and handed a 2-0 lead — started to absolutely roll.

Rodon pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 3rd and 4th, but in the 5th, allowed a 1-out solo homer to Jose Siri, who took a SLOW jog around the bases.

Rodon worked around a 1-out single in the 6th, and a 1-out walk in the 7th, by that time up 5-1. His line: 7 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 10 K’s, 1 walk. He improves his record to 10-7 4.42.

3. Oswaldo Makes It 4-0 in 4th

With Rodon rolling, the Yanks added to their lead in the bottom of the 4th — Aaron Judge led off with a single, and Austin Wells followed with an infield single to put 2 on with nobody out.

Anthony Volpe struck out and Verdugo hit a grounder to move the runners — setting up Oswaldo Cabrera who came through with a Clutch, 2-out, 2-RBI single. NY 4 Tampa 0 at the time.

4. LeMahieu Bomb Makes It 5-1 in 5th

After Rodon allowed the solo homer to Siri in the top of the 5th, DJ LeMahieu got back the run with a solo homer in the bottom of the 5th — his first HR of the year. NY 5 Tampa 1.

5. Soto Bombs in 7th & 8th Put It Away

Tampa brought in Tyler Zuber to pitch the bottom of the 7th and Juan Soto greeted him with a MONSTER BOMB just fair into the upper deck in right.

Soto responded to Siri’s slow jog around the bases in the 5th with an even slower jog.

Soto wasn’t done. In the bottom of the 8th, Tampa brought in Kevin Kelly. Oswaldo Cabrera and Trent Grisham greeted him with singles, but Kelly struck out LeMahieu and Ben Rice — which brought up Juan Soto again — and this time he hit a 3-run BOMB 385 feet to right. NY 9 Tampa 1.

6. Kahnle & Cousins Wrap Up

Tommy Kahnle pitched a shutout 8th, and NFL star Kirk Cousins’ cousin Jake Cousins pitched a shutout 9th — getting a batter but getting Brandon Lowe to hit into a double play for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401569981

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