Growing pains stack up for No. 3 prospect Rodríguez vs. Angels

ANAHEIM -- The Yankees opened a six-game West Coast road trip on a sour note Monday night, dropping a 10-1 contest to the Angels.

Fresh off taking three of four from the Red Sox to lock up homefield advantage in a potential AL Wild Card Series matchup, New York missed an opportunity to gain ground on the division-leading Rays. The loss leaves the Yankees trailing Tampa Bay by 4 1/2 games in the American League East.

The story of the night centered on top pitching prospect Elmer Rodríguez. Rated as New York's No. 3 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, the 23-year-old right-hander made his second Major League start since being recalled on Wednesday -- in his fifth stint with the Yankees this season -- to fill the rotation spot left by Ryan Weathers landing on the injured list.

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After delivering six solid innings against the Astros last week, Rodríguez showed early flashes of that same electric repertoire on Monday. Cruising through the first three frames with just one run allowed, he reached as high as 98.1 mph with his sinker and racked up five strikeouts.

However, command issues derailed his evening in a bout of two-out chaos during the bottom of the fourth inning. After quickly retiring the first two batters, Rodríguez hit Oswald Peraza and Tyler Heineman with inside breaking balls. Zach Neto followed with a run-scoring single to break the ice, and Mike Trout blew the game open with a sharp two-run single to left field.

Rodríguez was lifted after 3 2/3 innings, allowing four earned runs on four hits and three walks over 91 pitches.

"Just falling behind a lot of hitters, just not getting ahead in counts," Rodríguez said. "When I was getting ahead, I was getting good results, but I was getting behind. They made an adjustment and got the hits when they had the chance."

Command proved to be the right-hander's undoing, particularly during the hit-by-pitch sequence that extended the fourth inning.

"It's really frustrating," Rodríguez said. "Ahead of guys, attacking, and then it's two hit batters, and then you got two straight hits, a couple runs. That's the thing you don't want."

Manager Aaron Boone noted that while Rodríguez brought electric life to his pitches, his inability to consistently locate increased his workload.

"I thought stuff-wise, Elmer was pretty good, came out right away," Boone said. "I thought he had some life to the sinker, but then just struggled to get consistently in the zone where he needed to. A couple of two-out walks that extended innings, so he drove his pitch count up a lot."

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Offensively, the Yankees had their hands full against the Angels' Walbert Ureña, who scattered five hits over seven one-run innings. New York's lineup generated little sustained pressure, going down in order in three of the first six frames.​

The Yankees’ solitary bright spot arrived in the top of the fifth inning, when rookie outfielder Spencer Jones launched a towering solo home run to right-center field -- his eighth of the season -- to briefly pull New York within three at 4-1. Boone highlighted the rookie's ongoing adjustments at the plate, despite the quiet night for the rest of the order.

"[It’s] really encouraging," Boone said regarding Jones' development over the last month. “I've used the word 'adaptability' -- he's shown some real awareness -- strengths and weaknesses, his own, who he's facing. He's done a good job for us. [They] got a couple good swings off today."

An attempted catch by Jones on a shallow fly ball that fell for a double and an errant pickoff throw by reliever Michael Fulmer in the bottom of the fifth allowed the Angels to extend their lead to 6-1. In the sixth, fielding and throwing errors by shortstop José Caballero on a fielder's choice allowed the Angels to add another.

Despite the expanding deficit, the middle frames provided an encouraging development on the mound for New York. Right-hander Luis Gil made his first big league appearance since April 26, entering in relief in the sixth. Gil struck out three batters and allowed just one run over two innings of work in his return to the Majors, giving New York a glimpse of another high-leverage option for its postseason push.

"Good to see him get in there," Boone said of Gil's relief outing. "I thought he threw the ball well overall. After that first walk, I thought he settled in, threw the ball well. I thought he was on the attack, looked comfortable, was under control."

"Obviously an ugly one for us tonight," Boone added. "It's just a great reminder that in this league, you've got to play well or you get it handed to you. So we've got to bounce back tomorrow."