Carlos Rodón, Yankees stave off Guardians sweep

Gary Phillips, New York Daily News on Jun 4, 2026

Published in Baseball

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NEW YORK — The Yankees managed to avoid a sweep on Thursday, defeating the Guardians, 2-1, in the Bronx.

Carlos Rodón pitched well in the victory, holding Cleveland to one run and two hits over six innings of work. The left-hander, making his fifth start of the season after undergoing an offseason cleanup procedure on his elbow, also walked three and struck out seven over a season-high 96 pitches as he benefited from some solid defense.

Rodón also tallied 18 whiffs — nine of which came from his fastball — against a Guardians team that entered the game with the fifth-best strikeout rate (20.5%) in the majors.

“That’s not the easiest team to get the swing and miss on,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone noted when asked about Rodón, who also got four whiffs from his change-up.

While Rodón is still issuing more free passes than he would like — he’s walked at least three batters in all but one of his outings — the veteran has been effective over his last three starts. Over that stretch, he’s logged at least five frames while allowing just one run per start.

Rodón, who allowed a fourth-inning RBI single to Stuart Fairchild on Thursday, now has a 2.88 ERA over 25 innings this season. Meanwhile, his K/9 rate is up to 10.5.

“I’m happy with the swing and miss,” he said. “Obviously, getting ahead is the No. 1 thing. Just trying to get outs, and the strikeouts come.”

The Yankees’ offense didn’t do too much with Aaron Judge out of the lineup yet again. However, Jazz Chisholm Jr. helped them score each of their runs.

The second baseman first hit a game-tying sac fly off Slade Cecconi in the fourth. That was the only run the righty, who woke up with a 5.25 ERA, permitted over six innings.

Chisholm then scored on a go-ahead single from Ryan McMahon in the seventh inning after stealing second and advancing to third on a wild pitch. Chisholm reached via walk.

While Chisholm was instrumental in putting runs on the board, he credited Rodón for keeping Thursday’s game close.

“I just felt like he was out there with his swagger. He was that bulldog. ‘Rooster,’ we always call him,” Chisholm said, a nod to the Alice In Chains song that Rodón warms up to. “He threw the ball really well.”

With a series-salvaging win, the Yankees are now 37-25 heading into a three-game series with the Red Sox. That puts them a half-game behind the division-leading Rays, who had Thursday off.