The Yankees put up a five-spot in the sixth inning to take the lead, but their bullpen couldn’t make it stick in an 11-7 loss to the Athletics on Saturday.
Here are the takeaways…
-Coming off four straight quality starts, including 6.2 scoreless innings against the San Diego Padres his last time out, Carlos Rodón hoped to keep the good times rolling. Things got off to a rocky start for the lefty after he allowed a leadoff double to Jacob Wilson in the first inning, but Rodón did well to strand the runner and keep the game scoreless.
He wasn’t so lucky in the second, allowing Luis Urias to hit a solo shot on a four-seamer after getting ahead 1-2 and needing just one more strike to record a clean inning. Nevertheless, Rodón’s stuff was dealing as he struck out three in the inning and had four strikeouts in two innings. Things got away from him in the third, though.
Following back-to-back singles to start the frame, Brent Rooker, who struck out in his first at-bat, sent a 1-0 slider over the left-field wall for a three-run jack to give the Athletics a 4-0 lead. The long ball was Rooker’s 10th home run of the season and his first career hit off Rodón after starting 0-for-10 against the lefty.
The inning could’ve gone worse after a hit and an error by Anthony Volpe put runners on first and second with one out, but Rodón was able to escape trouble while picking up another strikeout in the process.
-Up until that point, the Yankees offense couldn’t get anything going against JP Sears. That is, until Aaron Judge blasted a solo shot leading off the fourth to get New York on the board. Aside from that, Sears finished strong and went five innings, allowing four hits and a walk while striking out four.
It wasn’t until the sixth inning, with Sears out of the game, that the Yanks’ bats came alive. For Judge, it was déjà vu as he unloaded on his second solo homer of the day, this time leading off against Justin Sterner. That home run opened the floodgates as New York would score four more times in the inning to put up a five-spot and take a 6-4 lead.
The big hit came via Oswald Peraza, who smoked a two-run shot down the left-field line that banged off the foul pole. It was Peraza’s only hit of a 1-for-3 game.
-Two runs to the good, all of a sudden, Rodón went back out for the sixth and pitched a 1-2-3 inning to end his outing and be in place to get a win. He struck out his final batter of the day to give him a season-high 10 strikeouts. Rodón allowed four earned runs on eight hits and threw 98 pitches (67 strikes) as his string of quality starts came to an end.
-Rodón took a no-decision, though, after the bullpen immediately coughed up the lead. Fernando Cruz, who pitched the seventh inning and entered the game with a 1.37 ERA, allowed three earned runs on a Shea Langeliers three-run blast to straightaway center that gave the A’s a 7-6 lead.
–Ian Hamilton had a rough outing as well, as he couldn’t find his control. In 0.2 innings, he allowed a hit, walked two and threw a wild pitch. With the bases loaded, Hamilton struck out Rooker before getting pulled, but the baserunners all belonged to him. Tyler Matzek couldn’t strand the inherited runners when he came in and allowed a two-run single to Tyler Soderstrom and a two-run double to Langeliers that blew the game open.
-Aside from Judge, Cody Bellinger was the only other Yankee to have a multi-hit game and finished 2-for-4 with a walk as he continues to climb out of an early-season hole.
Game MVP: Shea Langeliers
The designated hitter/catcher had himself a fine afternoon, finishing 4-for-5 to go along with five RBI and a run scored.
Highlights
ALL RISE!
AARON JUDGE’S 13TH HOME RUN!
(via @MLB) pic.twitter.com/KJDSENszie
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 10, 2025
AARON JUDGE’S SECOND HOME RUN OF THE DAY! pic.twitter.com/6VyAIgyiE9
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 10, 2025
Oswald Peraza for the lead! 💪
(via @Yankees) pic.twitter.com/pHEoaaJkAi
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 10, 2025
What’s next
The Yankees play the rubber-game of their three-game set with the A’s on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 4:05 p.m.
New York has yet to announce a starter, but it will be facing old friend RHP Luis Severino (1-3, 3.62 ERA).
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