Carlos Rodon takes perfect game bid into sixth inning as Yankees beat Twins for seventh straight win
Carlos Rodon of the Yankees pitches during the first inning against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Yankees have been so good this season that when Carlos Rodon took a perfect game into the sixth inning against the Twins on Wednesday night, it seemed like something that could happen.
The Yankees were playing Minnesota, for one thing, and the Yankees almost always beat the Twins. Alex Verdugo, Anthony Volpe and Juan Soto had already made highlight-reel plays, the kind you usually see in perfect games or no-hitters.
Alas, the 43,202 who showed up at Yankee Stadium didn’t get to see either as Carlos Santana homered off Rodon with one out in the sixth.
So the fans had to settle for the Yankees’ seventh straight victory, this one 9-5 over the Twins.
And the first 18,000 fans got to proudly wear the Soto basketball jersey they were given upon entry to the stadium (after many waited hours in line for the giveaway). Never before had so many people taken off their shirts at Yankee Stadium. At least some fans slipped the Soto jersey over what they were already wearing.
The Yankees (44-19) are tied with the Phillies for the best record in baseball.
Rodon ended up going six and giving up two runs and three hits in winning his sixth consecutive start. Rodon (8-2, 3.08 ERA) struck out nine and didn’t walk a batter.
Aaron Judge had a three-run triple as part of a five-RBI night and kicked a catcher’s mitt about 100 feet (more on that later) as the Yankees continued their phenomenal success against the Twins.
This season, the Yankees are 5-0 vs. Minnesota and have outscored the Twins 28-7. Since 2002, including the postseason, the Yankees are 122-44 against the Twins.
The dominance started early as the Yankees took a 4-0 lead in the first against Twins starter Chris Paddock (4-3, 5.26 ERA).
Judge had a run-scoring groundout, Giancarlo Stanton ripped a 115.4-mile per hour RBI single to center, and Gleyber Torres dropped a two-run ground rule double down the rightfield line.
Rodon struck out six of the first nine batters and also got some help from his defense.
With two outs in the second, Verdugo ran down Byron Buxton’s drive to left before crashing into the fence. With one out in the third, Santana hit a grounder to Volpe’s right that the shortstop corralled with a dive and then threw on a bounce to first for the out.
Finally, Soto battled a fan to catch a foul fly ball for the first out of the fourth. The fan – who was not wearing a Soto jersey -- reached over the side wall and tried to catch the ball with his bucket hat. Soto scaled the wall and made the catch. The fan’s arm made contact with Soto’s head. No one was injured.
The Yankees made it 8-0 in the fifth on a bases-loaded triple by Judge and a sacrifice fly by Verdugo. Judge slid in so hard that he dislodged catcher Ryan Jeffers’ glove, which did not contain the ball. The wayward mitt flew all the way to the top step of the Yankees’ dugout.
In the sixth, Rodon struck out Willi Castro before Santana ended the perfect game attempt at 5 1/3 innings with a 368-foot home run to right.
Judge added his fifth RBI with a bases-loaded walk in the sixth.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.