Alex Verdugo, Carlos Rodon, Juan Soto help Yankees improve to 10-2 with win over Marlins

There’s a sense of anticipation when you walk into Yankee Stadium these days.

Sure, a lot of it has to do with having guys like Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Anthony Volpe on the roster, but it goes beyond that.

It’s not just that the Yankees are winning — like they did, again, 3-2 against the Marlins on Tuesday night — but it’s the opportunity, too, to discover how they’re going to pull it out this time.

Aaron Boone said he was most encouraged by “the variety of ways we’ve won games — certainly contributions from the entire roster but one day, it’s been a big defensive play or two, another day it’s been the offense wearing some pitchers down and getting to the underbelly of the bullpen . . . It’s taken a little bit of everything. I don’t think we’re on fire necessarily anywhere but the guys have done a really good job of playing winning baseball and winning situations.”

Tuesday night, it was Alex Verdugo and Carlos Rodon’s turn. Verdugo homered — his second as a Yankee — Soto reached base three times and Rodon (1-0) cruised for six innings before getting into a manageable bit of trouble in the seventh as the Yankees improved to 10-2. It matches a franchise best start over their first 12 decisions. They’ve also won their first four series for just the sixth time in team history.

Ian Hamilton and Clay Holmes shut the door in three innings of scoreless relief.

The Yankees got on board in the second when, with one out, Verdugo blasted A.J. Puk’s hanging sweeper 370 feet to right for the 1-0 lead. The homer set off a chorus of barks in the Yankees’ dugout — a nod to Verdugo’s rallying cry: “We’re dawgs out here.”

After entering Monday 5-for-35, Verdugo, who generally hits well for average, has heated up considerably, going 4-for-6 with a double, homer and two walks.

“Who doesn’t like to bark?” Verdugo joked afterward. “I love it. I love it. Anytime I hear my teammates barking or I got (Anthony) Rizzo throwing up (the dog hand gesture) . . . it’s just a lot of fun and they’re running with it.”

The Yankees added another in the fifth, when Soto hit a ground ball that was thrown away by shortstop Tim Anderson for a two-base error. Judge walked and Giancarlo Stanton made the Marlins pay, lining a double the other way to make it 2-0. That RBI ended the night for Puk (0-3), who pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits and five walks, with two strikeouts.

Soto added an RBI off Sixto Sanchez in the sixth. Jon Berti singled, Austin Wells walked and, with two outs, Soto hit a soft single up the middle to plate Berti. The Yankees eventually left the bases loaded when George Soriano got Stanton to fly out to left.

The Marlins made it interesting in the seventh though. Josh Bell walked and Jazz Chisolm Jr. reached after Rizzo misplayed his ball at first base to bring up Anderson, who singled to load the bases and push Rodon out of the game. Hamilton let up a run-scoring groundout and Emmanuel Rivera tacked on a sacrifice fly to make it 3-2.

Rodon, who’s now started the year with three strong performances, allowed two runs on four hits in six-plus innings, with two walks and six strikeouts. Generally reliant on a fastball and a slider, he was also able to effectively mix in his cutter and some heavier changeup usage to good effect. He got three of his 12 swings-and-misses on that pitch.

Rodon came off the mound to applause — a huge departure from his injury-shortened 2023 where he went 6.85 ERA.

“It’s a step in the right direction today,” Rodon said. “Just keep going. The confidence is growing for sure . . . It’s important to any of us to start off on a good note. I think we’re playing good baseball right now.”

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.