Rested Rodón returns to form
‘Outstanding’ outing sets tone for White Sox in a combined 5-hit shutout
César Hernández never enjoyed batting against Carlos Rodón.
“It wasn’t comfortable for me when I had to face him when I was in Cleveland,” the second baseman, who recently joined the Chicago White Sox in a trade with the Indians, said through an interpreter. “I can tell you it was kind of a nightmare. Now that I have a chance to play for him and behind him, it’s good because you can see how good he is.”
Rodón was back in All-Star form Saturday in Game 2 of the City Series against the Chicago Cubs, striking out 11 and allowing two hits in five-plus innings in a 4-0 Sox victory at Wrigley Field.
“It was nice to get a few more days extra (of rest) and show up today,” Rodón said. “The velocity was there. It was good.”
Rodón pitched for the first time since July 29 at Kansas City. He was sharp from the first inning after the eight days of rest, striking out Rafael Ortega, Willson Contreras and David Bote.
“From the first inning, he’s pumping,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “He was outstanding.”
Rodón (9-5) struck out two in each of the first five innings before exiting after allowing a leadoff walk in the sixth. He lowered his ERA to 2.38.
“He’s just really good,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “When you’ve got a guy throwing upper90s commanding in to righthanded hitters and has got a pretty devastating slider to the back foot with as much movement as he has, I thought we got in some decent counts, and he just made pitches.
“He was really effective. We just weren’t able to square much up at all, so just a really good performance by him.”
It was a nice bounce-back outing for Rodón, who lasted four innings in each of his previous two starts, going 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA and .343 (12-for-35) opponents average. It was the first time this season he had lost consecutive starts. He surrendered two home runs in both of those starts.
Kolten Wong homered on Rodón’s first pitch in the first inning and Tyrone Taylor led off the second with a home run on July 24 at Milwaukee. Salvador Perez hit a two-run home run off Rodón in the first inning and Michael A. Taylor had a solo homer in the second on July 29 at Kansas City.
La Russa said the Kansas City start was similar to the outing Lucas Giolito had Thursday against the Royals, in which he allowed six runs in four innings.
“If they jump you early, you never know if you’ll find it later,” La Russa said. “But (Rodón) had good rest for this one, and he’s proved when he’s rested, it pays off.”
Rodón rebounded in a big way Saturday, allowing just a one-out single to Frank Schwindel in the second and a one-out double to Bote in the fourth.
Rodón described the outing as “a good one.” He noted that he got a “lot of swing and misses” but credited the Cubs for getting “that pitch count up (89 pitches) and got me out early.”
“A good move by Tony,” Rodón said. “Got a fresh arm in and got out of the inning.”
La Russa said of the decision to make the pitching change in the sixth: “If you’re down on the field, you saw how hot it was. Even though he was having a lot of success, I talked to him about going out for the sixth. He said he could buy some outs. But when he walks the first hitter, that’s time to get him, and he agreed.
“But he was talking more with his heart and his guts than with his head at that point. He wanted to finish the sixth, but he gave us what he had. He was outstanding.”
Michael Kopech, Aaron Bummer, Craig Kimbrel and Ryan Tepera each pitched one inning to complete the shutout. Rodón and the four relievers combined for 17 strikeouts.
“It’s nice when you have a bullpen like this,” Rodón said.
La Russa said Rodón is in line to start Thursday’s MLB at Field of Dreams Game against the New York Yankees in Dyersville, Iowa. He’ll be doing so off an impressive outing.
“Arm felt better with the little extra rest like we planned on,” Rodón said. “It just worked out.”