Rookie Elmer Rodriguez was cruising with a 1-0 lead in the 4th inning when Tyler Stephenson hit a 2-out, 3-run bomb to center en route to a 4-1 Cincinnati win over the Yankees on a warm, cloudy afternoon at Yankee Stadium.
Ben Rice had just put NY ahead 1-0 with a solo HR in the 3rd — but that was it for the Yankee offense on the day as sophomore phenom Chase Burns and the Reds bullpen shut them down.
NY spent the rest of the day a homerun away from tying it — putting a runner on base in the 4th through 7th innings — but didn’t get it. Camilo Doval allowed consecutive doubles in the 8th to put Cincinnati up 4-1.
“Obviously he’s one of the game’s really good .. forget young pitchers,” said manager Aaron Boone about Burns afterwards. “I thought we had good at bats against him, throughout the lineup. I thought we pressured him well, and were making it hard on him. We just — a little like yesterday — we couldn’t break through with a hit when we needed it.”
On Rodriguez, Boone said, “I think that’s the best he’s thrown it since he’s been up here. I thought his strike throwing was really good, and then he lost the zone there a little bit with (Noelvi) Marte, fell behind him and he gets the basehit to right, then he falls behind Stephenson, gives up the long ball.”
The Yanks lose 2 of 3 in the series, and fall to 46-30, 2 games ahead of Tampa in 1st in the AL East. Cincinnati improves to 37-39.
1. Ben Rice MVP — HR in 3rd Off Phenom Burns
The Reds started Chase Burns, their 23-year-old, 6’3 righty phenom who came in at 8-1 2.01 (and leaves at 9-1 2.00). Burns does not qualify as a rookie as he went 0-3 4.57 in 43.1 innings last year, but if there was an award for Sophomore of the Year, he’d be leading. He is a leader for Cy Young in the NL.
Burns was throwing lots of 97- to 98-MPH four-seam fastballs and lots of 90-MPH sliders, intermixed with a 90-MPH changeup.
But he wasn’t perfect — the Yanks got baserunners on him in every inning and when they got on, they tried to steal 2nd. According to Boone, “he has one of the best pickoff moves in the league, but is slow to the plate.”
Jasson Dominguez singled with 1 out in the 1st and stole 2nd, then Cody Bellinger walked and after a flyout, the two executed a double steal of 2nd and 3rd. But Burns got a pop out to strand the runners. And Jose Caballero led off the 2nd with a single — but was gunned down trying to steal 2nd.
Anthony Volpe walked to lead off the 3rd — but was then picked off 1st — Volpe complained to no avail that 1st baseman Sal Stewart blocked his path back to the base. “I just had nowhere to go,” said Volpe afterwards.
That was unfortunate because next batter Ben Rice — a leading candidate for MVP — smashed a 97-MPH four-seam fastball 375 feet to right center for a 1-0 Yankee lead.
Rice, Rice, Baby ?
Vote Ben ?️ https://t.co/8m0RdBIan1 pic.twitter.com/yJH5ZFJLf5
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 21, 2026
After the Rice HR, Cody Bellinger singled and stole 2nd, but Burns struck out Spencer Jones to end the inning.
2. Rodriguez Good — Until the 3-run Bomb
Yankee rookie and top prospect Elmer Rodriguez — a 22-year-old, 6’4 righty — was making the 4th start of his career. And he was out-dueling the Reds phenom Burns into the 4th — using a 95-MPH sinker, 92-MPH cutter, 76-MPH curveball, and 81-MPH sweeper to get lots of groundouts and pitch shutout ball.
Rodriguez walked Jonathan Lowe to lead off the 4th, but then struck out the next 2 batters and all seemed well. Until rightfielder Noelvi Marte singled and catcher Tyler Stephenson ripped a 3-1 count, 96-MPH four-seam fastball 401 feet to left center for a 3-1 Cincy lead.
QB1 goes deep!@Tyler_Step22 pic.twitter.com/awKe0qDPff
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) June 21, 2026
3. Yanks Spend Afternoon with a Runner on Base
After that the Yanks spent the afternoon with a runner on base, but never got the big hit to even the score.
- Jazz Chisholm Jr. led off the 4th with a single against Burns — but groundout, strikeout, popout followed.
- Burns was careful to Rice the next time he faced him — walking him on 4 straight pitches with 1 out in the 5th, but followed by striking out 2 The Martian and Cody Bellinger.
- Sam Moll, a 5’9 lefty, came in to pitch the 6th for the Reds, and allowed a 2-out walk to Jose Caballero and single to Amed Rosario — but Paul Goldschmidt flied out to end the threat.
- Ben Rice reached on an infield single against Caleb Ferguson with 1 out in the 7th, but 2 groundouts followed.
4. Yank Middle Relievers Hold Fort
Rodriguez walked the 1st batter of the 5th and was relieved by Tim Hill who got the next 3 outs.
Paul Blackburn pitched a 1-2-3 shutout inning in the 6th, and got the 1st out of the 7th, before being relieved by Brent Headrick who got the next 2 outs.
Headrick got the 1st out of the 8th, before yielding to Fernando Cruz who got the next 2 outs — the score remaining 3-1 Cincy.
5. Doval Allows a Run in 9th Due to Shoddy Yank D
And then Camilo Doval allowed a groundball up the middle to Spencer Steer in the 9th — but it went under Jazz Chisholm’s glove and into the outfield — and a bad throw by Jose Caballero later, Speer was at 3rd with nobody out.
This play started ugly and only got uglier pic.twitter.com/cjPXvq2ht2
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) June 21, 2026
With a runner on 3rd and nobody out — Doval struck out a batter but allowed an RBI double to Noelvi Marti for a 4-1 game, diminishing Yankee hope.
6. Santillan Closes Yanks Out
Tony Santillan, a 29-yr-old 6’3 righthander with a 95-MPH fastball, 85-MPH slurve and 5.46 ERA, pitched a 1-2-3 shutout 8th (strikeout, groundout, foul out) with the score still 3-1 at the time.
And then Santillan closed it in the 9th with another 1-2-3 inning (line out to deep center, fly out, lineout) for the old ballgame.
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