BRONX, NY — New York Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Rodon is champing at the bit to get another crack at the Los Angeles Dodgers after he was tagged for four runs on six hits with three home runs, including back-to-back jacks from Teoscar Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in a 4-2 Game 2 loss.
Should the Yankees handle business behind a gem from Gerrit Cole on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, Rodon will get that opportunity for Game 6 on Friday in Los Angeles.
“Redemption would be nice,” Rodon said. “They’re such a great club, they have such a great lineup. As a kid, it’s just something you dream of to pitch in the World Series. To be able to pitch Game 6 would be a great opportunity.”
It would also be a historic opportunity. No team in World Series history has ever forced a Game 6 when trailing 3-0, let alone a Game 7. If Rodon gets the ball, that means his Yankees would be on the precipice of doing just that.
His looming presence, despite the rough 3.1-inning outing in Game 2, is what is fueling hope that New York could pull this off. In first baseman Anthony Rizzo’s gameplan of how the Yankees could come back, he alluded to Cole going for Game 5 on Wednesday and “a pissed off Carlos Rodon,” when then the Fall Classic shifts back to Los Angeles.
“Hopefully it’s the right description,” Rodon said of Rizzo’s analysis as he tried to label his emotions a bit more conservatively. “I don’t know, mildly upset but under control. There’s a happy medium.”
The veteran southpaw’s postseason results have been a mixed bag, to date. He lasted 3.2 innings in Game 2 of the ALDS against the Kansas City Royals, yielding four runs on seven hits. In the ALCS, he gave up three earned runs on eight hits in 10.2 innings.
While he fully expects another game and is preparing as such, he understands that there is not much room for error, even emotionally.
“There’s a fine line,” he began. “I can’t be the buddy, buddy guy. I can’t be the guy who is super mad. I kind of have to ride the fence. I can’t go left or right. I have to be someone robot-ish but internally, not happy with the other team.”
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