Yankees hit four home runs, pick up 19 hits to back Carlos Rodon and beat Brewers

MILWAUKEE — After receiving the baseball equivalent of a lemon in 2023, the Yankees this season are getting what they paid for with Carlos Rodon.

And then some.

The lefthander, who went through a miserable first season in the Bronx after signing a six-year, $162 million free-agent contract, has been mostly stellar, resembling the pitcher who was a two-time All-Star.

That continued Saturday night when, backed by a 19-hit outburst, Rodon throttled the Brewers for six innings in a 15-3 laugher in front of a sellout crowd of 41,620 at American Family Field.

The Yankees (18-10) had five big hits: three-run homers by Alex Verdugo and Giancarlo Stanton, a three-run double by Gleyber Torres and two-run homers by Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo.

After Verdugo's home run off righthander Joe Ross gave the Yankees a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, Rodon (2-1) allowed a solo blast by Rhys Hoskins in the bottom half and no more runs thereafter. Rodon, who had not allowed any home runs in his previous three starts, gave up two hits and a walk  in lowering his ERA to 2.48. He struck out a season-high eight. 

 “Impressive,'' Judge said. "I’ve always said it takes a year or two for guys when they come over here to New York, just how it’s a different market, different situation, different atmosphere. But when he signed here, he wanted to be here. He wanted to be in those big moments, and the start I’ve seen from him this year, he’s attacking the strike zone well, all his pitches are working, he added that little cutter in there to mix things up. He just looks comfortable.”

The Yankees got production from across the board. Verdugo, switched by Aaron Boone to cleanup in place of  Rizzo, went 3-for-5 and drove in four runs. Rizzo, dropped to sixth in the order, was 3-for-4, including his fourth homer. Gleyber Torres went 3-for-6, including a bases-clearing double in the third that made it 6-1. Judge was 2-for-4, including his fifth homer. Stanton went 2-for-5, going deep on a 65.7-mph slider from second baseman Owen Miller in the ninth to make it 15-1. Austin Wells also was 2-for-5.

Juan Soto reached base three times,  going 1-for-3 with two walks, raising his batting average to .324 and his OPS to 1.024.

“Offensively, we definitely had it going,'' Rodon said. "They gave me an early lead, made it easier for me to go attack the zone. It’s always easier when the offense is firing like that. I can just go right at the zone and get guys out. Hats off to them for getting guys across the plate. Defensively we played great. It was a good game overall.”

Jose Trevino, who teammates say has a legitimately good knuckleball, made his first career pitching appearance in the bottom of the ninth. He walked the leadoff batter and, after recording an out, allowed RBI doubles by former Yankee Gary Sanchez and  Joey Ortiz.

The Yankees immediately got to Ross, who allowed seven runs (six earned), eight hits and three walks in five innings.

Anthony Volpe, in a 7-for-43 slump coming in, was hit in the left elbow area with Ross’ first pitch of the night, a 96-mph sinker. Soto worked his MLB-leading 23rd walk, making it 25 of 28 games in which he has reached base (when he walked in the sixth, that made it 18 games in which he reached base multiple times).

Judge, hitting .178 coming into the day, got ahead 3-and-1 before striking out swinging at a full-count slider, but Verdugo pounced on a first-pitch slider and drove it out to right for his fourth homer.

In the third,  Judge worked a leadoff walk,  Stanton walked with one out and Rizzo reached on an infield single. Torres, hitting just .192 coming into the night, rifled his double to right-center to cap an eight-pitch at-bat.

 “Amazing. Finally I do something for the team, especially in that situation,'' Torres said. "A lot of work in the cage, during BP, finally I saw the result tonight and I feel happy. I think it’s going to be a great night for me resting and try for the same thing tomorrow.”

Rizzo flared a single to left for his second hit of the night and Torres reached on an error by first baseman Hoskins in the fifth. Oswaldo Cabrera grounded a single to right for a 7-1 lead.

Judge and Rizzo hit two-run homers in the sixth to make it 11-1.

 “As hard as it is in this league to score runs and as good as the pitching is, to have a night like that definitely is nice,'' Aaron Boone said. "Hopefully little things that unlock and get a few guys going even more. But a really strong performance overall. We’ve talked about the last few days putting a lot of guys out there [on base]. Tonight we were able to get a lot of them home, which is always nice.”