Yankees saw ‘a lot of good’ from Elmer Rodriguez, despite erratic MLB debut

He retired the next six batters he faced, but Texas jumped on him in the fifth.

Rodriguez hit the leadoff man with a pitch then issued a seven-pitch walk, before giving up back-to-back singles to allow the Rangers to take a 2-0 lead.

The youngster was pulled after that, handing things over to Brent Headrick, who limited the damage to close his line with just the two runs allowed on four hits and four walks in as many innings.

While the youngster wasn’t as sharp as usual, Aaron Boone thought his stuff was good.

“There was a lot of good,” the skipper said. “We saw his stuff play, I thought his mix and spinning it was good, just a little better on the strike-throwing part and it’s a better line, but he still kept us in the game and gave us a chance.”

Rodriguez agreed that he could’ve executed a bit better, and he’ll look to grow from his mistakes in this outing before taking the ball again his next time out.

“It’s a good experience being here,” he said. “Obviously it’s my first time around, now I’m just trying to learn from all of the good and the bad and just go forward and continue to work.”