DETROIT — On a day when it was 38 degrees at first pitch with wind chills in the 20s and snow falling early, Carlos Rodón took the mound in short sleeves.
The cold was not his biggest foe Monday, though, nor were the Tigers or the home plate umpire or the defense behind him, so much as it was the left-hander himself.
Rodón was cruising until he invited trouble upon himself in the third inning, by walking Detroit’s 8th and 9th-place hitters.
He was upset by the strike zone on the second walk, and while he may have had a case, he could not overcome it.
Two batters later, Rodón yanked a changeup and gave up a three-run homer that was enough to sink the Yankees on the way to a 6-2 loss to the Tigers at Comerica Park.
“Bottom half of the order, just got to go attack,” Rodón said. “Frustrating that I’m falling behind those guys and just need to be better with getting Strike 1 and getting ahead of those guys.”
“I’m definitely tired of walking people,” added Rodón, who has walked nine in three starts this season. “It’s frustrating. I don’t want to give up free bases.”
Detroit Tigers’ Andy Ibáñez, right, celebrates his three-run home run with Ryan Kreidler (32) and Jake Rogers in the third inning during a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Monday, April 7, 2025.AP
The final damage on Rodón was six runs (five earned) across six-plus innings, and while his length was much-needed to help save a short bullpen, it was not enough to avoid a second straight loss.
“Big, big reset for us,” said manager Aaron Boone, who thought Rodón was “excellent” aside from the home run pitch. “It would have been really nice obviously to have it go our way, but the way he threw the ball in a game where we needed him to do that was good.”
Right-hander Casey Mize, meanwhile, and the Tigers bullpen combined to stifle the Yankees (6-4), who outhit Detroit 7-5 but still lost.
Rodón quickly retired the first seven batters he faced before walking light-hitting catcher Jake Rogers with one out in the third inning.
Carlos Rodón #55 of the New York Yankees pitches against the Detroit Tigers during the first inning at Comerica Park on April 7, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan.Getty Images
Then he got into another full count against No. 9 hitter Ryan Kreidler and threw a slider that appeared to clip the bottom of the strike zone.
Home plate umpire Bruce Dreckman did not agree, calling it ball four as Rodón got frustrated on the mound, appearing to yell, “That’s bad!”
After Rodón struck out the next batter, he tried throwing a 1-0 changeup down and away to Andy Ibáñez, only to leave it down and inside, which he called Ibáñez’s “no-no zone.”
It got drilled for a three-run homer and the 3-0 lead.
“Not so much that I didn’t move on, I’m obviously frustrated with the call [to Kreidler], but it was called a ball and it was a walk, so I tried to move on quickly,” said Rodón, who struck out eight. “I wouldn’t say it affected me. Obviously it’s in the back of my head, obviously I want that pitch called a strike, but it wasn’t. Then I gave up a three-run homer, that’s what hurt me.”
Detroit Tigers’ Jake Rogers slides safely into home plate past the tag of New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells (28) in the fifth inning.AP
The Yankees got one run back in the top of the fifth when Trent Grisham, arguably their hottest hitter, singled and eventually came around to score on Aaron Judge’s RBI single off Mize.
But the Tigers extended their lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the inning, which began with a fielding error by Oswaldo Cabrera at third base.
Rodón then walked Rogers again and, after a sacrifice bunt, both runs came in to score on Justyn-Henry Malloy’s single to center field.
The Yankees, who scraped across another run in the eighth inning on fielding and throwing errors by the Tigers, also hurt themselves offensively.
It was still a scoreless game in the top of the third inning when Ben Rice tripled to the gap, only to get picked off third base by Rogers with Judge at the plate and one out.
“Just poor baserunning,” Rice said, who reached base three times. “Being a little too aggressive, getting caught on my front foot, a little too open. … It doesn’t feel good. But now learn from it and move on.”
