The New York Yankees’ already formidable starting rotation added a significant left arm on Sunday with Carlos Rodón making his first start of the 2026 MLB season.
Unfortunately, it was a season debut to forget for the 12-year veteran. Rodón only gave up two hits in 4 1/3 innings, but allowed three runs with five walks in a 4-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Brice Turang’s home run off a first-pitch curveball from David Bednar in the ninth inning gave Milwaukee its second walk-off win against the Yankees in two days. The Brewers also won 4-3 on Saturday in 10 innings on a sacrifice fly by William Contreras.
A MOTHER’S DAY WALK-OFF BLAST BY BRICE TURANG https://t.co/W4qwD7B3C7pic.twitter.com/wiClJ3c1vt
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 10, 2026
Rodon, 33, missed the first month of the season while recovering from surgery to remove a bone spur from his left elbow performed in October.
The Yankees gave him a lead early on with Aaron Judge hitting his 16th home run of the season in the first inning, followed by a Spencer Jones RBI single to score José Caballero in the second.
Carlos Rodón threw two 97 MPH pitches in his first inning of the season. He only threw 13 of them all last year
Rodón’s 97.7 MPH fastball was faster than all but two of his pitches last season pic.twitter.com/8gF3wkufA5
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 10, 2026
However, Rodón loaded the bases in the fourth, walking Contreras and Gary Sánchez, then hittingAndrew Vaughn with a pitch. Luis Rengifo hit into a force out to provide the Yankees a chance to escape the inning without much damage.
But Garrett Mitchell followed with a sacrifice fly to score Milwaukee’s first run and Rodón threw a wild pitch to advance runners to second and third. Blake Perkins then drove Rengifo and Vaughn in with a single to center field for a 3-2 lead.
Rodón came out to pitch the fifth inning but after walking Contreras on four pitches — all out of the strike zone — he was replaced by Jake Bird. The left-hander finished with 80 pitches, 43 thrown for strikes.
The Yankees tied the score at 3-3 in the sixth inning on an RBI double from Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Going into Sunday’s game, the Yankees led MLB with a 3.10 team ERA and a 3.01 ERA among the team’s starting pitchers. Max Fried (2.91 ERA) and Cam Schlittler (1.35) have provided a formidable top two for the Yankees’ rotation after their first nine starts.