Yankees' Carlos Rodon goes six strong innings, bullpen shuts door to blank Rays

TAMPA, Fla. — Carlos Rodon had been tormented by the number of walks allowed in his first four starts.

But more than that, it was the ill-timed three-run homer that seemed to follow some of those free passes that torpedoed him.

The walks returned on Friday night — four of them, tying his season high. But they did not hurt Rodon, who didn’t compound those mistakes with far more damaging ones that ended up in the seats.

The lefthander, backed by some terrific defense and another lights-out night by the bullpen, threw six standout innings in leading the Yankees to their fifth straight victory, a 1-0 triumph over the Rays in front of a sellout crowd of 10,046 at Steinbrenner Field.

Rodon, who came in 1-3 with a 5.48 ERA, allowed two hits and struck out a season-best nine.

“It’s one of those things where I can’t give in, just [have] conviction in the pitch I’m throwing,” Rodon said of not allowing the walks to contribute to greater damage. “Just refuse to give in.”

Rodon, Mark Leiter Jr., Fernando Cruz and Luke Weaver allowed three hits and struck out 15.

Trent Grisham singled home Paul Goldschmidt with two outs in the second inning for the game’s only run. Goldschmidt had another good game at the plate, going 3-for-4 to raise his average to .373.

Leiter, who struck out two in the seventh, was aided by some poor baserunning by the Rays.

Jonathan Aranda led off with a shot over centerfielder Grisham’s head. After missing on his first attempt to pick up the ball, Grisham quickly got it to shortstop Anthony Volpe, who threw a strike to Oswaldo Cabrera at third to cut down Aranda as he tried to stretch his double — making the first out of an inning at third base, a cardinal sin.

“It’s kind of a contagious feeling on defense,” said Volpe, who had an overall stellar night in the field even as he continued to slump at the plate (3-for-34 with 15 strikeouts). “Once the ball’s put in play, it’s going to be an out.”

The Yankees (13-7) were denied a bigger cushion in the eighth. With Cabrera on first, Ben Rice blasted a drive to rightfield that was headed for the stands, but Jose Cabellero leaped at the wall and robbed Rice of what would have been his sixth homer of the season.

Cruz struck out two in a perfect eighth, giving the splitter specialist 18 strikeouts in 10 2⁄3 innings. Weaver, called on to close rather than Devin Williams, who would have been pitching for the fourth time in five days, struck out two in a perfect ninth for his second save.

“Defensively, we were pretty impeccable,” Rodon said. “And the bullpen shuts it down. It’s just a great team win.”

The start of Rodon’s night did not portend success. He walked Yandy Diaz on five pitches, his team-high 13th walk of the season, and Junior Caminero singled to left.

But Rodon quickly settled down. He won a nine-pitch battle with Curtis Mead, getting a borderline full-count changeup called for strike three. Rodon then struck out Christopher Morel and Danny Jansen swinging at sliders to end the 28-pitch inning.

The Rays (8-12), who left 10 on base in Thursday’s 6-3 loss, did not put another runner in scoring position until the fifth.

Volpe teamed with Goldschmidt for one of the highlight plays of the night in the fourth. Mead led off with a grounder that took the shortstop deep in the hole to his right. Volpe — mimicking his childhood hero, Derek Jeter, with a jump throw — fired across the diamond and Goldschmidt, a four-time Gold Glove winner, made a terrific stretch-and-scoop for the out.

“That was just reaction,” Volpe said. “But we practice those a lot. Chappy [first-base and infield coach Travis Chapman] pushes us pretty good.”

Of having Goldschmidt there to dig it out, Volpe said: “It’s a nice safety net. One I never want to use, but comes in handy on those difference-maker range plays.”

Rodon allowed a leadoff double by Caballero in the fifth and Jake Mangum’s groundout to second moved Caballero to third, setting up another strong defensive play. Goldschmidt fielded Taylor Walls’ grounder and ran straight at Caballero, who took off on contact. He retreated to third and Goldschmidt flipped to Cabrera, who threw to catcher J.C. Escarra for the out. Rodon struck out Diaz swinging at a 96-mph fastball to end the inning.

“Just a lot of really good things in a tight ballgame,” Aaron Boone said. “And the bullpen was excellent.”

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.