Carlos Rodon gave the Yankees exactly the kind of start they needed Friday night, and the offense backed him up with power in a 6-4 win over the Mets at Yankee Stadium.
Rodon worked 6 1/3 innings in his sharpest outing of the season so far, helping the Yankees beat their crosstown rivals on a night that carried extra weight: the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The pregame ceremony included several familiar faces, among them former captain Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and former manager Joe Torre.
New York’s bats made sure Rodon’s effort stood up. Cody Bellinger broke a 1-1 tie in the second inning with a three-run homer off rookie Nolan McLean, and Ben Rice followed with a solo shot in the fifth. The Yankees piled up 13 hits in all and won for the ninth time in 12 games, their 17th victory in 24 games as they edged closer to clinching a postseason berth for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons.
Rodon, who has had two trips to the injured list this year because of elbow issues, allowed two runs, only one earned, on three hits. He struck out eight and walked one in his longest start of the season.
Juan Soto was one of his strikeout victims twice. After Rodon gave way, the bullpen had to work through some trouble, but the Yankees kept control.
Rodon exited to a strong ovation from the sellout crowd after allowing a single to rookie Carson Benge. Paul Blackburn then loaded the bases and gave up an RBI single to rookie A.J. Ewing, before Brent Headrick snared Francisco Lindor’s line drive to get out of the seventh.
The Mets kept pressing. Headrick loaded the bases in the eighth and was charged with a run when Marcus Semien hit a sacrifice fly off David Bednar. Bednar then allowed Ewing’s homer to start the ninth, but he finished the game by getting Soto into a 3-6-3 double play for his 33rd save.
McLean took the loss in his first meeting with the Yankees, giving up five runs and a career-high 10 hits over five innings. He struck out five and walked one. It was the first loss in five starts for the right-hander, who also has now allowed more than two earned runs for the third time in his last 18 starts and failed to get through six innings for the second time in his last 15 outings.
The Yankees’ damage against McLean started after Christopher Morel’s game-tying RBI groundout in the second. Anthony Volpe and Rice singled before Bellinger stepped in and drove a full-count curveball into the right-field seats for his 14th home run.
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