About Last Night: The Yankees Eclipsed The Rays 1-0

About Last Night: The Yankees Eclipsed The Rays 1-0.

By Tim Kabel

April 19, 20025

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Last night, the good Carlos Rodon showed up for the New York Yankees. He pitched six solid, shutout innings, striking out nine. He did walk four but unlike some of his recent games, he did not give up a home run or the lead. The Yankees relied on pitching, defense, and timely hitting. If they can win games like this on a regular basis in addition to games where they steamroll the opposition, they will have a very successful season. 

Quick Stats – 

·       This was the Yankees’ first shutout victory of 2025.

·       The Yankees have won five games in a row and six of their last seven.

·       The Yankees are now 13-7 and in first place in the American League East. No team in the American League has more wins than the Yankees.

·       The Yankees have 34 home runs in their first 20 games this season. That projects to 276 over a full season. When I made my preseason home run prediction for the team, my total was 279. I was needled for that. Remember, it is early and cold for the most part. Home runs will become more plentiful later in the season.

·       On April 18, 1952, the Yankees retired Joe DiMaggio’s uniform # 5.

The Big Story – 

The Yankees are on a little bit of a streak. They have won five in a row and six of their last seven. Remember, their starting rotation is a work in progress. If Carlos Rodon can consistently pitch the way he did last night or the way he has pitched in most of his games except for that one inning where he runs into trouble, then the rotation will look a lot better. Max Fried and Clark Schmidt could combine with Rodon to provide the Yankees with a very solid trio of starting pitchers. Unfortunately, they will need five. Will Warren is a rookie and has shown flashes of being at least a serviceable Major League pitcher. Hopefully, he will continue to mature and improve. If that happens, the Yankees can take their chances on the days when either Carlos Carrasco or Marcus Stroman pitches. Eventually, Luis Gil will rejoin the rotation. In addition, the Yankees could pull off a trade for a top-notch starting pitcher. That remains to be seen. But at least things do not look as bleak as they did at the very beginning of the season.

Player of the Game – 

Carlos Rodon had his best start of the season. He pitched six shutout innings, allowing two hits and striking out nine. He did walk four but, this is Carlos Rodon we are talking about. He had to make us a little nervous, didn't he?

Notable Performances – 

Paul Goldschmidt had three of the Yankees’ five hits. 

Trent Grisham drove in the Yankees’ only run and combined with Anthony Volpe and Oswaldo Cabrera to throw Jonathan Aranda out at third base to start the 7th inning.

Better To Forget-

Whoever is in charge of planning the meals for the Yankees. Austin Wells became the second player this season to miss a game due to food poisoning. This is starting to look like an Agatha Christie novel. 

My Take – 

I had to listen to some of the game on the radio last night. I have always enjoyed listening to the games. I liked it more when I could hear Phil Rizzuto and Bill White but, time moves on. I find the pairing of Suzyn Waldman and Dave Sims to be enjoyable. Sims has an easy way about him and unlike his predecessor, he does not try to bring every situation back to himself. Sims also seems to be able to distinguish a pop fly in the infield from a home run. That's an improvement.

Let me just say that I do like Suzyn Waldman. However, at one point during the game, she started waxing nostalgic about DJ LeMahieu and his return. She stated that he would probably need ten or eleven games in the minors to regain his form. I have no idea what form she was talking about. The man has been awful for a couple of years now and was abysmal last season. Yet there Suzyn was, chirping along happily about DJ LeMahieu coming back as if he were the reigning batting champion as opposed to the batting champion from five years ago, during a pandemic-truncated season. She has taken what Aaron Boone has cast upon the water hook, line, and sinker. 

I remember reading a short story in my tenth-grade English class. The title escapes me now but, it was about a little boy who lived in England (I believe) during World War Two. His father was off fighting in the war and the boy hardly ever saw him. The boy assumed the role of the man of the house on some level. He would even read the newspaper and pretend to smoke a pipe. When his father finally returned, the boy resented it and felt as if he was being pushed out. In the boy’s mind, his father was an intruder. Things were going perfectly well without him. But his father was the actual man of the house and reassumed his rightful position. Eventually the father and son came to an understanding, of course.

This story made me think about the prospective return of DJ LeMahieu. Things seem to be going quite nicely with Oswaldo Cabrera as the primary third baseman. DJ LeMahieu could well be viewed as the intruder in this scenario because unlike the father in the story, LeMahieu does not have to reassume the role of the starting third baseman. There was supposed to be a competition in Spring Training. LeMahieu was hurt after two at bats. I don't see how he could simply be awarded the spot simply by managing to survive a handful of games in Scranton. Yet, that could very well be the scenario we see. Unlike the story I read in English class, I don't think this one will have a happy ending.

Next Up -

The Yankees will play the third game of the four-game series against the Rays today at 4:10 PM at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Shane Baz, (2-0, 1.42 ERA) will pitch for Tampa Bay. The Yankees will send Carlos Carrasco, (2-1, 5.94 ERA) to the mound. It would be a shame if the Yankees did not beat Shane.