MILWAUKEE — On a night when Carlos Rodon had plenty of breathing room, he suffocated the Brewers.
The Yankees left-hander turned in another sharp outing, striking out a season-high eight across six innings on the way to a 15-3 win over the Brewers on Saturday at American Family Field.
Rodon allowed just two hits and walked only one, the lone damage being a solo home run by Rhys Hoskins in the first inning.
But with his offense providing him a 3-0 lead before he even took the mound — and that margin quickly growing — Rodon was able to attack hitters and cruise.
“I just want him to keep going,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He’s not one-dimensional. He’s got different ways of getting you out. Depending on what he’s got that day, he can make adjustments. I thought as the game went on, the stuff ticked up and continued to get sharper and a little bit better.”
Rodon’s slider was especially effective Saturday as it accounted for seven of his eight strikeouts.
“This team’s a really good hitting team, they really are,” Rodon said. “They get to the fastball, so in the [scouting] report we could tell there was some swing-and-miss on sliders. So we wanted to use that in two-strike counts when we’re ahead and it worked out.”
The outing marked Rodon’s latest quality outing through an encouraging six-game start to the year, posting a 2.48 ERA across 32 ¹/₃ innings as he tries to distance himself from a tough first year in The Bronx.
“Impressive,” Aaron Judge said. “I’ve always said, it takes a year or two for guys when they come over to New York. It’s a different market, different situation, different atmosphere. But when he signed here, he wanted to be here. He wanted to be in those big moments.
“He just looks comfortable. We’re excited to have him and lucky to have him because he’s going to be a big part of this team this season.”
Jose Trevino recorded his first career pitching appearance, called on to protect a 14-run lead in the ninth inning.
He gave up two runs, walked one and allowed a pair of hits, but got three outs and threw two knuckleballs.
“I think he needed to go to the knuckleball a little bit more,” Alex Verdugo said. “His dances, man. It dances a lot. It would be fun to see him throw a handful of those.”
Ian Hamilton was only available in an emergency for Friday’s 7-6 loss in 11 innings after experiencing general soreness before the game, according to Boone.
“He went through his pregame stuff and felt like it was best to keep him on an emergency level [Friday] night,” Boone said. “It felt kind of total body. We were going through stuff right before the game, the trainers felt like it was best to keep him on an emergency level.”
If he had been available, Hamilton likely would have had an opportunity to close out the game in the 10th inning with the Yankees leading, 6-5. Instead, Boone went to the recently acquired Michael Tonkin, one of two relievers left in the bullpen (along with lefty Victor Gonzalez), who gave up a pair of unearned runs and took the loss.
Jon Berti (left groin strain) is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment Sunday with Double-A Somerset. … DJ LeMahieu (non-displaced foot fracture) is still in a week-long shutdown, but Saturday was the first day he felt better after aggravating it in a rehab game Tuesday, Boone said.