Carlos Rodon wasn’t always an exceptionally consistent pitcher. He was one of those guys with filthy stuff who could only occasionally harness it into a great outing.
This season’s Rodon, though? He’s as consistently effective as they come. Even with the pressure high on Tuesday afternoon for the New York Yankees, Rodon delivered one of what feels like his standard gems for this season.
The Yanks’ bats didn’t particularly get going, either, which meant that Rodon’s sharpness was needed. They beat the Tampa Bay Rays 2-0 in the first game of a doubleheader.
The victory prevented the Rays from clinching the AL East Division. They’ll clinch it with just one win in the remaining three games of this series against the Yankees, but Rodon ensured it wouldn’t happen yet — leaving the door just ajar for the Yankees to try and chase down the division title by themselves.
Carlos Rodon Today
Rodon was his usual sharp self.
He went 8.0 innings, a rare feat in 2026 MLB, and was hardly touched. He allowed just three hits and didn’t walk a batter.
Rodon struck out eight Rays.
His outing was good enough that the Yankees only needed a two-run home run from Cody Bellinger to pull out the victory.
Carlos Rodon Milestones
Rodon achieved two round-number milestones in the same game on Tuesday.
The first was his 1,500th career strikeout, which Rodon didn’t realize was happening aside from the fact that people began to clap extra:
Carlos Rodón did not realize right away that he recorded his 1,500th career strikeout:
“Oh, people are clapping – cool” pic.twitter.com/W4oGvDpuYX
— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) September 22, 2026
Rodon entered the game with 1,492 career strikeouts. His eighth and final K of the day marked 1,500.
He struck out 710 batters for the White Sox, 237 for the Giants and now has punched out 553 for the Yankees.
Rodon has struck out 1,500 batters in 1366.1 innings.
And in addition to that, his pitching win on Tuesday marked the 100th win decision of his career:
Carlos Rodón earns career win No. 100 with 8 strong innings! 💎 https://t.co/TmrwYZmnUj pic.twitter.com/cwvOhREnP6
— MLB (@MLB) September 22, 2026
Pitching wins aren’t valued the way they used to be, but Rodon’s Tuesday start was the perfect example of why they still matter.
The Yankees were playing the first of two games on the same day, so the more innings Rodon could go the better. And if the Yanks lost, they’d officially allow the Rays to celebrate the division title at Yankee Stadium.
Rodon simply didn’t let that happen.
He now has a 44-29 record with the Yankees to go along with 42-38 with the White Sox and 14-8 with the Giants.
Rodon will be hoping that he can start stacking wins in the playoffs next. He’s got just a 1-2 won-loss record in the postseason in his career, with all three of those decisions coming with the Yankees in 2024.
The lefty has a career 7.53 playoff ERA in eight outings (28.2 innings), so Rodon’s hope will be to carry over this incredible regular season into the 2026 playoffs.
Yankees’ Carlos Rodon Notches 2 Milestones in Must-Win Start