Yank Bombers Back Rodon. Severino Leaves with Arm Tightness. NY 8 A’s 2

May 30, 2026 paperbacklou 2026 0
Paul Goldschmidt 3-run HR in 1st off Luis Severino gives Yanks 4-0 lead.

Aaron Judge started the scoring with an RBI single in the 1st, Paul Goldschmidt rocked a 3-run HR later in the inning, Ryan McMahon ripped a solo HR in the 3rd, and Ben Rice went 4 for 5 with a HR as Yank bombers backed Carlos Rodon to beat the A’s 8-2 in Sacramento on a Friday night.

Rodon had another strong start: 6 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 3 K’s, 2 walks to go 1-2 3.32 on the year.

Brent Headrick got into trouble in the 7th — loading the bases with 1 out in a 7-1 game, but Fernando Cruz came in and got a double play on his 2nd pitch to end the threat. Paul Blackburn pitched the last 2 innings for NY.

Luis Severino got bombed in the 1st — then left the game after experiencing tightness warming up for the top of the 2nd.

“I was dealing with this my last start,” said Severino afterwards. “Usually it gets better by throwing. But this time every time I threw a pitch it was getting worse.”

“Always through the year you get a lot of ups and downs; tweeks and stuff like that,” added Severino. “We’ll see tomorrow what it is; hopefully it is not that bad. I felt tightness throwing a pitch, and I felt if I kept throwing, something even worse was going to happen; that’s why I stopped.”

NY improves to 35-22, and remain 1.5 behind Tampa. The Homeless A’s fall to 27-30.

1. Judge & Goldschmidt Rip Severino in 1st

Luis Severino has been pitching well for the A’s this season, sans the occasional bad outing. He’s had trouble with his control in the 1st inning, but once he gets past that has thrown some great starts. That includes a start against the Yanks on April 8th, where he allowed 2 runs in the 1st inning but ended up beating them 3-2 with 5 innings of 4-hit, 2-run ball.

In Severino’s last 6 starts heading into this one, he had 3 starts of only 1 run allowed, 2 starts of 2 runs allowed, and one start against San Fran where he allowed 5 runs.

He struck out Trent Grisham on 3 pitches to start the game, then got Ben Rice to hit a grounder to 1st that should have been the 2nd out — but Nick Kurtz botched it for an error.

Rice then moved to 2nd on a balk by Severino — and Aaron Judge ripped a single up the middle for a 1-0 Yankee lead.

Cody Bellinger followed with a single, but Severino got Jazz Chisholm Jr. to ground out — which should have been the 3rd out of the inning if not for Kurtz’s error.

That gave Paul Goldschmidt a chance to bat, and he rocked a 380-foot HR to left center for a 4-0 Yankee lead.

2. Rice RBI Single Gives NY 5-1 Lead in 2nd

Nick Kurtz made up a little bit for his error with a HR off Rodon in the bottom of the 1st to make it a 4-1 game, but the A’s got bad news minutes later when Severino was pulled from the game due to the arm stiffness warming up in the top of the 2nd.

The A’s had to go to their bullpen early — bringing in 28-year-old, 5’10 lefty Jose Suarez.

The Yanks jumped all over Suarez, with a 1-out double by Jose Caballero, single by Trent Grisham, and RBI single by Ben Rice for a 5-1 game.

3. McMahon HR Gives NY 6-1 Lead in 3rd

Suarez got the final 2 outs of the 2nd, and the A’s brought in 6’5 righty Joel Kuhnel for the 3rd.

Kuhnel got the first 2 outs of the inning when Ryan McMahon ripped a 401-foot HR to right center for a 5-1 Yankee lead.

4. Yanks Make It 7-1 in 4th

Kuhnel stayed in for the 4th, and NY jumped all over him some more — a 1-out single by Trent Grisham, double by Ben Rice, and RBI groundout by Aaron Judge made it a 7-1 game.

5. Rodon Rough at 1st But Settles In

Meanwhile Carlos Rodon was shaky in the first 3 innings but settled in for his 2nd straight strong start. He allowed the HR to Kurtz in the bottom of the 1st, but pitched shutout ball from there through the 6th.

Rodon was throwing the hardest 93-MPH four-seam fastball ever, and utilized it with an 89-MPH sinker, 85-MPH slider, and 80-MPH changeup to get the A’s out all night. Rodon’s 4-seamer touched 94-MPH at times, still below his normal 95-96-MPH heater.

Rodon allowed the HR to Kurtz in the 1st, then allowed a walk and single to the first 2 batters of the 2nd before getting a doubleplay and groundout to end the inning.

Rodon walked Darell Hernaiz to lead off the 3rd, but got a ground out, strikeout (of Kurtz) and help from J.C. Escarra who threw out shortstop Darell Hernaiz trying to steal 2nd for the final out of the inning.

Rodon allowed consecutive 2-out singles in the 4th, but got 3rd baseman Zack Gelof to fly out to end the inning. He then pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 5th and 6th to complete his start.

“I thought it was a little rough early tonite,” said Boone about Rodon. “I thought he was really good in his last start but in this one, the first couple of innings I didn’t know how long he was going to be out there. He got into a pretty good rhythm and got it going in the middle innings. Made some big pitches when he needed to early when he was trying to figure it out, then got real efficient and got it dialed in in the 4th, 5th, and 6th.”

6. Rice HR Makes It 8-1 in 7th

Ben Rice MVP rocketed a 411-ft HR to center to begin the 7th off 6’3 righty Scott Barlow and it was 8-1 NY.

7. Cruz Saves Headrick in Bottom of 7th

Brent Headrick relieved Rodon to start the 7th, and got the 1st out before running into trouble — consecutive singles by centerfielder Henry Bolte and 3rd baseman Zack Gelof and a walk to Jeff McNeil loaded the bases with 1 out in the 8-1 game. A chance for the A’s to get back in it.

But Fernando Cruz came in and got pinch-hitter Carlos Cortes to ground the ball back to him for a pitcher-to-catcher-to-1st double play on his second pitch — his vaunted splitter — to end the inning.

8. Blackburn Finishes

Paul Blackburn wrapped up by pitching the last 2 innings — a 1-2-3 inning in the 8th, and allowing a run in the 9th (leadoff single, walk, groundout, RBI single by Zack Gelof) before getting a foul out and strike out for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401815548

 

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