Dominant Carlos Rodon, Yankees bullpen shut out Rangers to finish sweep

The Yankees lead the American League in runs scored and are tops in the majors in home runs. 

For quite a while now, though, their offense has merely needed to be OK rather than overwhelming.

They have somewhat quietly begun seizing games with their arms rather than bats and just swept a three-game series in which they scored 10 total runs. 

Carlos Rodón was virtually untouched through six scoreless, two-hit innings, and Jorbit Vivas and the Yankees’ bullpen took care of the rest in a 1-0 shutout of the Rangers in front of an announced 43,450 that was a fraction of that on a rainy and chilly Thursday afternoon in The Bronx. 

The Yankees (30-19) are rolling into a nine-game road trip that begins in Colorado having won four straight and 11 of their past 14.

Good teams find different ways to win, and the Yankees are no longer smacking and more often silencing opponents. 

Carlos Rodon pitches against the Rangers during the Yankees’ matinee win on May 22, 2025.

Against Bret Boone’s Texas hitters, the Yankees’ staff allowed five runs in three games. Aaron Boone’s pitchers have not let up more than three runs in a season-high eight straight games and own a 1.85 ERA in that span. 

“We just got to keep going,” Rodón said of a rotation that owns a 2.68 ERA in the past 34 games. 

“This is a collective effort,” Luke Weaver said of a bullpen that lost Fernando Cruz on Thursday and cruised anyway. “Everybody’s rooting for each other, and we want to make sure that we pick each other up.” 

With Will Warren looking more and more like a real major league starter and Ryan Yarbrough offering strength and unique funk, the back end of their rotation has settled. 

Yankees second baseman Jorbit Vivas rounds the bases after hitting a home run in the fifth inning on May 22, 2025.

With Max Fried leading the majors in ERA (1.29) and Rodón the hardest pitcher in baseball to record a hit against (MLB-best .161 opponents’ batting average), the top of the rotation has looked formidable. 

With Weaver efficient and gutsy enough to pitch three straight games, Devin Williams pitching like Devin Williams and Mark Leiter Jr. stepping into the Cruz void, the bullpen kept humming. 

Despite frigid and wet conditions, Rodón was undershirt-less and at the top of his game, striking out eight and the side in the fifth inning.

Yankees third baseman Oswald Peraza (18) reacts after he hits a double during the second inning.

Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger jumps to make a catch in the fourth inning on May 22, 2025.

He stumbled into some trouble in the sixth inning when Wyatt Langford walked, stole second and reached third on a wild pitch, but Rodón used a changeup to put away Jake Burger on his 105th and final pitch. 

“He has four pitches that he can use at any time,” batterymate J.C. Escarra said of a lefty who once had thrived solely on fastballs and sliders. “It’s no wonder he’s having the success he’s having.” 

The Yankees only needed one swing to survive, Vivas’ first career home run, a short-porch shot in the fifth, providing the offense.

He rounded the bases then went through the high-five line in the dugout before allowing himself a small smile, which appeared on his face again when he revealed he called his mother in Venezuela after the game. 

That swing would be enough because the Yankees’ bullpen followed Rodón by allowing just two base runners in three scoreless, four-strikeout innings. 

Leiter essentially needed to record four outs in the seventh — after a rushed throw from third baseman Oswald Peraza (who otherwise had an excellent game) turned into an infield single — and managed to escape a second-and-third jam.

He used a particularly devastating splitter to strike out former Yankees prospect Josh Smith. 

Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe (11) hits a single during the sixth inning.

“[The splitter] is so nasty when you have two strikes,” Escarra said. 

Williams pitched a perfect eighth, now on a run of seven straight appearances without allowing a run. Langford — a rising star — looked overmatched in swinging through his changeup. 

“This is who he is,” Boone said of Williams, who has looked more like himself after getting demoted from the closer role. 

Yankees pitcher Devin Williams (38) throws a pitch during the 8th inning.

The closing gig now belongs to Weaver, who notched his seventh save with a clean, 10-pitch ninth on a rare third straight day of work. 

“I want to be able to be efficient to be able to come back the next day,” said Weaver, who needed just 18 pitches to record seven outs in a series in which the club’s offense was quiet — which did not matter.