1. What a difference a day makes. Or what a difference a starter makes.
A day after getting shut down and striking out an excessive amount against the starter with the worst strikeout rate in the majors in Tomoyuki Sugano, the Yankees faced a late-spring-training-scrap-heap signing making his first start of the season in Kyle Gibson. The Yankees bombarded Gibson from the moment he stepped foot on the mound.
2. Trent Grisham homered on the second pitch of the game for his second leadoff home run in three games. Aaron Judge homered on the third pitch of the game for his ninth of the season. Ben Rice homered on the fifth pitch of the game for his seventh. After Gibson retired Paul Goldschmidt on four pitches, Cody Bellinger homered on the second pitch he saw for his third. The Yankees started the game with back-to-back-to-back home runs just like they did in the second game of the season against Nestor Cortes, and just like they did against Cortes, they homered four times in the first inning. Add in back-to-back doubles from Jazz Chisholm and Anthony Volpe after the Bellinger home run, and the Yankees had a 5-0 lead before Carlos Rodon threw a pitch.
3. This was a lead and an offensive outburst and a game not even Rodon could ruin. When you never know which version of Rodon you’re going to get, scoring five runs before he throws a pitch is a good way to negate the possibility of the bad version of Rodon showing up. But not only did the best version of Rodon show up, he took a perfect game into the sixth inning and finished with a strong line: 6 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K. It was his third straight quality start after having not thrown one in any of his first four starts of the season.
4. “I was able to attack the zone and just get outs because we had such a nice lead,” Rodon said. “Get outs as quick as we can and get the boys back in the dugout so they can score more runs.”
Rice homered against in the second to give the Yankees a 6-0 lead. They added three more in the fourth, which is when Gibson was finally pulled, finishing the day with this unfortunate line: 3.2 IP, 11 H, 9 R, 9 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 5 HR.
The Yankees extended their lead with three more in the fifth, and had a 12-0 lead before the Orioles got on the board in the sixth. A run in the seventh, one in the eighth and another in the ninth for the Yankees led to 15 in total on 19 hits, four walks and two hit batters. Every starter had at least one hit, and 11 of the 12 players to appear in the game had one. The offense hit four doubles and five home runs.
5. “It really starts with Grish,” Judge said. “Grish got it going for us.”
I’m glad Aaron Boone went with my suggestion from Tuesday’s Thoughts to go with Grisham, Judge and Rice at the top of the order. The trio went 6-for-11 with four home runs and two walks. That should be the top of the order for the foreseeable future whether the starter is right-handed or left-handed.
6. Unfortunately, Jasson Dominguez was on the bench for this one and was the only position player to not enter the game. If Dominguez isn’t hurt, he needs to play. He should be playing over Bellinger, but again, owed money trumps performance and development. It’s nice that Bellinger went 2-for-4 with a double, home run and two walks in the game, though it was against Gibson and Matt Bowman, not exactly elite arms. Bellinger’s big day against the scrap heap assures him of indefinite playing time (not that it was ever in question with the more than $20 million owed to him).
7. Chisholm was injured in the game on a swing in the first inning. It looked like an oblique injury and he was attended to mid at-bat before hitting a double down the right-field line on what looked like a half-effort swing. (Maybe good things happen when you don’t try to hit a 750-foot home run with every swing? Or maybe it was just Gibson on the mound.) Chisholm slid into third (thanks to an error) on the hit and when he got up was in obvious pain and was removed from the game. The Yankees reported it as a “right flank” injury mid-game and after the game Boone said Chisholm would go for testing, while Chisholm said he was fine. It didn’t look like he was fine, but if he is, at best I would think he would be back in the lineup on Saturday or Sunday.
8. The big day from the offense and the six innings from Rodon meant a day off for the back end of the bullpen. Ian Hamilton was able to pitch two innings after having pitched once in the last 10 days and Tyler Matzek was able to throw an inning to continue to get his feet wet after having thrown 10 innings since 2022.
9. The bullpen is more than rested for the series finale on Wednesday and with a day off on Thursday I expect Boone to go to the bullpen at the first sign of trouble with Carrasco. There’s no need for him to take one on the chin if he’s off or to eat innings. Luke Weaver has thrown 11 pitches in a week. Fernando Cruz has pitched once in five days. Mark Leiter Jr. has thrown 28 pitches in eight days and Tim Hill has thrown 21 pitches over the same time. There’s at least 12 outs available between those four on Wednesday, and I would think even more.
Cade Povich is going for the Orioles, and while he’s a lefty, which poses an extreme threat to the Yankees, he’s not a good one. If there’s a lefty in the league the Yankees can hit, it should be someone of Povich’s stature. Povich pitched well in his last start against the Nationals, but even with that start, he has allowed 43 baserunners in 25 innings this season.
10. Both teams have a shaky starter going and both teams have well-rested bullpens and both teams desperately want this rubber game with the Orioles trying to climb slowly back to .500 and the Yankees wanting to go into their day off on a high note. If the version of Carrasco who pitched against the Blue Jays on Friday or the offense that lit up Camden Yards on Tuesday, they’ll get that high note.
Last modified: Apr 30, 2025
