NEW YORK – The Yankees offered a simple piece of advice to Elmer Rodríguez ahead of his fifth Major League start: Find the swagger that has carried him to this level, and trust that his stuff is good enough.
After Rodríguez looked like he did just that over a career-best six-plus innings, Cody Bellinger delivered a go-ahead two-run double as the Yankees rallied for a 9-3 victory over the Astros on Wednesday evening at Yankee Stadium.
Spencer Jones and Jazz Chisholm Jr. also delivered run-scoring knocks in a four-run seventh, propelling the Yankees to their seventh win in nine games.
Despite the late surge, the most encouraging developments might have centered around Rodríguez, the club’s top pitching prospect (No. 3 overall) according to MLB Pipeline. Promoted to fill a vacancy created by Ryan Weathers’ left forearm flexor strain, the 23-year-old made a convincing case to stick around.
“It seems like when he has struggled up here,” pitching coach Matt Blake said before Wednesday’s game, “he’s just kind of flirting with the strike zone more than living in it. For him to be successful at this level, it’s not giving the hitters too much credit.”
Ben Rice hit his team-leading 35th home run in the first inning off Houston starter Peter Lambert. The Yankees hadn’t scored a first-inning run in 23 games, one shy of their franchise record.
George Lombard Jr. added a run-scoring groundout in the first inning, though he later committed an error on a hard Christian Walker grounder, Lombard’s fifth consecutive game with an error.
Houston scored a first-inning run on Rodríguez when center fielder Trent Grisham misplayed a Jose Altuve double. Daulton Varsho added a fourth-inning homer off Rodríguez, who saw an inherited run score against Paul Blackburn in the seventh. Rodríguez permitted three hits and two walks, striking out six.