The Yankees dropped their second straight to the Reds on Tuesday night, but there were questions on a decision by skipper Aaron Boone that needed addressing.
Starter Carlos Rodon pitched six scoreless innings, and with the Yankees up 3-0 and the southpaw at just 88 pitches, it seemed like an obvious decision to have Rodon pitch the seventh. However, Boone had Jonathan Loaisiga start the inning and the bullpen imploded, allowing the tying three runs and the winning runs in the 11th of their 5-4 loss.
Boone was asked about the decision after the game and pointed to the weather's effect on his starter as the reason.
"Once he came out, I knew he was kinda done on a 100-degree night like that," Boone explained. "[Spencer] Steer had a pretty good at-bat on him his last time. I felt like he was done there."
Steer was set to lead off the seventh and he doubled against Rodon in the fourth, one of the only instances where the left-hander had to pitch around trouble on Tuesday. But despite Boone's explanation about matchups, it was the heat in Cincinnati that really did Rodon in; it was 91 degrees at first pitch, which is the Yankees starter confirmed when he spoke with the media after the game.
"Usually I’m going back out, kind of thing, but I was huffing and puffing a little bit," Rodon said. "…most situations I want the ball, but I could tell, I was gassed. They had some good at-bats, and some long at-bats. Just one of those days where the energy was coming out of me quick.”
Rodon said that during warmer games, he sometimes has to expend more energy, especially in the later innings. Loaisiga was pulled from his relief appearance because the heat was getting to him too, according to Boone.
The longtime Yankees manager said Loaisiga was under the weather on Monday but was good enough to pitch Tuesday. However, that energy reserve was depleted thanks to the heat and was "wiped out."
"I don’t like making excuses for stuff like that. It was one of those situations where you leave it to my guys and unfortunately, we didn’t get it done today," Rodon said. "I trust everybody in the bullpen to go out there and execute. It was just one of those days where they swung the bat well later on, we made a run at it late and it was an exciting baseball game."
Of course, the weather affects both teams, and the Yankees bullpen and lack of execution in extra innings did the team in. Tuesday's loss was the fifth this year where the team had a lead at the start of the seventh inning or later, which is the most in MLB. They have also dropped nine of their last 12 games, which has caused their strong AL East division lead to dwindle. With the Rays' win, the Yankees' lead in the division is just one game.
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