Ex-Yankee Jameson Taillon, Cubs spoil Carlos Rodón’s pinstripe debut – The Denver Post

All eyes were on the Pinstripers’ new pitcher on Friday night, but a former Yankees starter did the team in for the second time this week.

While Carlos Rodón looked fine in his long-awaited Yankees debut, Cubs starter Jameson Taillon held his previous employer to one measly hit over eight scoreless innings in a 3-0 win for Chicago. The right-handed Taillon, who pitched for the Yankees from 2021-2022 and left in free agency over the winter, entered the game with a 6.93 ERA, but he made easy work of a Bombers lineup that has often looked lost with Aaron Judge on the injured list.

“I know Jamo comes in with that inflated ERA,” Aaron Boone said afterward. A lot of that’s come against left-handed hitters that have really gotten to him. He’s pitched alright to righties. And we know what he’s capable of. To me, he looked healthy and he looked like Jamo. So we were facing a better pitcher, certainly, than the numbers. But that said, we had some pitches to do some things with.

“We were able to square some balls up, but we all know we got to do better than that, and that’s on all of us.”

The Yankees did record 11 hard-hit balls off Taillon, but that didn’t get them anywhere.

“He commanded the ball well and how he wanted to,” Boone added, “but obviously, we got to do better.”

Taillon added two walks and four strikeouts over 102 pitches against his old team. The performance outdid Jordan’s Montgomery’s Sunday afternoon, when the ex-Yankee and current Cardinal blanked New York for 6.2 innings.

“I felt like I definitely knew him a lot better than most because I caught him so much,” Kyle Higashioka said of Taillon after going 0-for-3. “I put a couple good swings on him early. Obviously didn’t get luck with that, but I definitely felt more comfortable than off guys I’ve never seen before. But he obviously came out on top, so it’s a credit to him.”

The Yankees have now scored four runs over their last three games. Friday marked the 21st time an opposing starter held them to two runs or fewer while throwing at least seven innings. That’s the most in the majors, and the abysmal A’s are second-worst with 16 such games.

“We know that we’ve got to be better than this and that what we’re doing right now is just unsustainable,” Higashioka said. “But as a team, we’re all grinding. We’ve all got each other’s backs, and we know that we’re going to come out of it. It’s just a matter of time. So we’re doing everything we can to turn it around. It obviously doesn’t look pretty right now, but it’s just part of the game and we know we’re gonna get through it.

“You can’t win this way. If you score zero runs, it’s typically impossible to win.”

As Taillon dominated in his return to the Bronx, Rodón threw 5.1 innings and 69 pitches in his first start for the Yankees. With his season delayed by a forearm strain and a nagging back issue, the lefty is still building up at the major league level after three rehab starts.

“I didn’t really look back at what has happened up to this point,” Rodón said. “I just was excited to be on the mound, and obviously, I would rather have had a win. So that’s the most important thing, but it didn’t go that way tonight.”

Rodón’s biggest blemish came in the third inning when Cody Bellinger turned on a 94.5-mph fastball and sent it deep into the second deck. The left-handed swing gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead — and looked tailor-made for Yankee Stadium. It surely left some Yankees fans wondering about Bellinger’s availability as the trade deadline approaches.

The Cubs scored another run off Rodón in the fifth inning when Nico Hoerner followed a pair of walks with an RBI single. Patrick Wisdom added another RBI single in the seventh with Ron Marinaccio on the mound.

Rodón allowed four hits while walking two and striking out two. The Cubs made plenty of strong contact, recording nine hard-hit balls while attacking the fastball early in counts. But Rodón limited the damage and exited to applause from a fanbase that has been looking forward to his first appearance since the Yankees signed him to a six-year, $162 million contract in December.

“It was nice to finally pitch in the pinstripes in Yankee Stadium, but not the way I wanted to start,” Rodón said.

Added Higashioka: “I was pretty impressed with the fastball, and the secondary stuff was there, too. It was definitely a change of pace from the guys who I normally catch because I’m set up high every pitch, so it was kind of fun almost, just doing something new. But it was cool. I thought he looked really good.

“He’s intense.”

With Rodón’s debut over and done with and the Yankees back in fourth place, they will turn to their ace in the second game of their series against the Cubs.

Gerrit Cole will take the ball on Saturday, his first start since being named an All-Star for the sixth time. The right-hander earned that nod by going 8-2 with a 2.79 ERA over his first 18 starts.

Southpaw Drew Smyly will start for the Cubs. The southpaw owns a 7-5 record and a 4.10 ERA through 17 starts this season.

Domingo Germán, two outings removed from a perfect game, will start the Yankees’ final contest before the All-Star break on Sunday. Kyle Hendricks will go for Chicago.

Kyle Hendricks will go for Chicago on Sunday. Domingo Germán, two outings removed from a perfect game, will start the Yankees’ final contest before a much-needed All-Star hiatus begins.

“It’s been a little rough,” Rodón said of the offense, but “thank god we have a game tomorrow and Sunday and we get a little break. So there’s a lot more games to be played. That’s for sure.”

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