NEW YORK -- When Eduardo Rodriguez allowed a first-inning grand slam to Gleyber Torres on Friday at Yankee Stadium, it did not appear that the Red Sox lefty was long for the game. After a single followed the slam, Rodriguez induced a double play, and proceeded to not allow another run for the rest of his outing.
On a night when the Red Sox sorely needed length from their starter, heading into a Saturday doubleheader and having just placed a reliever on the injured list, Rodriguez delivered, despite the four runs allowed. The Yankees won, 4-2.
"Struggled with command in the first inning. After that, he was outstanding," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.
Ultimately, Rodriguez pitched 6 2/3 innings, striking out eight and walking six. Not a line to write home about, but one that helped set his team up for the rest of this series.
Rodriguez became the first Red Sox pitcher with at least six walks and eight or more strikeouts in an outing since Pedro Martinez on April 22, 2003. If anything, that shows how infrequent it is for a pitcher with that kind of location issues to remain in the game. But, Rodriguez did.
Asked if this outing was a sign of Rodriguez's ongoing maturation, and if he would have settled down in the same way last year, Cora cited that there's been a transformation.
"I think he's in a great spot," Cora said. "Last year, he would've just put his head down and it was going to be a short one. Now, he just kept working, kept making pitches, made adjustments. ... His stuff was really good. His command, for the first three hitters, it was off. Too bad, because he actually pitched a very good game."
Despite settling down and keeping his team in it, Rodriguez felt he let his team down.
"I failed on my part," he said. "Give up those four runs, they score two runs for me, and I fail on my part."
Cora noted that the theme of a rough first inning and then settling down was true on both sides -- Yankees starter James Paxton allowed a two-run home run to J.D. Martinez in the first, but, like Rodriguez, did not allow any further damage.
"I thought the game was going to be 13-2 [after the first inning]," Cora said. "It's a game of adjustments, and they made their adjustments. Eduardo did. And it was a great pitched ballgame the rest of the night."
Though it's an inopportune time for such a game, as it extended the Red Sox losing streak to five games, Cora viewed the game more as an isolated day, pointing out the differences between the series against the Rays and this game.
"I'm not frustrated today. I was more frustrated with the way we played in Tampa," he said. "It was just a good baseball game. It happens."