Carlos Rodon’s few mistakes were hammered.
His teammates’ offensive mistakes were plentiful.
This version of the Yankees — with a star-studded top of the lineup but Muggsy Bogues length — does not have much room for error, so flawed games become losses.
Wednesday’s effort was flawed, so the Yankees lost, 3-2, to the Reds in The Bronx in front of 47,646 frustrated fans.
A righty-heavy starting lineup was five-hit by lefty Andrew Abbott and four Cincinnati relievers.
The Yankees clawed back into the game with a two-run double by Anthony Volpe in the seventh inning, but that would finish their scoring.
The Yankees put the tying run on base in the ninth against Alexis Diaz, the brother of Mets closer Edwin, as Austin Wells worked an entertaining, 10-pitch walk.
But Volpe grounded into a double play before Juan Soto flew out, leaving Aaron Judge in the on-deck circle.
Even before Thursday’s finale with Cincinnati, the Yankees (54-34) have clinched another losing series and have failed to win six straight series while dropping 12 of 16 games overall.
the Yankees’ loss. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
No team will win many games when scoring two runs.
The Yankees had three legitimate chances for more on a night they left nine on base:
— Down one in the eighth inning, they put two on with two outs, but a pinch-hitting Trent Grisham struck out.
— In the seventh inning, Volpe came through with a clutch, one-out, two-run double to cut the gap to one. He reached third on a wild pitch and Soto walked, becoming the go-ahead run. But Judge grounded a bullet to third baseman Noelvi Marte, who began an inning-ending double play.
— Before Volpe’s hit, the Yankees’ only threat arrived in the third inning and transpired in predictable fashion. With two outs, Soto and Judge walked and advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. But in a rare at-bat with runners in scoring position, J.D. Davis — an impromptu cleanup hitter discarded from the A’s last week — hit a broken-bat ground out up the middle.
With a flawed attack, the Yankees needed a flawless pitcher. As has been the case recently, they didn’t get one.
A Yankees starting pitcher has not lasted six or more innings in a week and a half, since Nestor Cortes tossed seven in a loss to the Braves on June 23, though Rodon fought for the chance to survive the sixth inning.
A weird night for the lefty ended with manager Aaron Boone approaching the mound with one out and a runner on first in the sixth.
Rodon had just walked Jeimer Candelario on his 95th pitch of the night, and righty cleanup hitter Spencer Steer was coming up to bat.
Rodon could be seen mouthing, “No way,” as Boone walked to the mound, then gave the ball to his manager and appeared unhappy walking to the dugout.
The move worked, though. Michael Tonkin allowed another base runner on a walk but escaped the frame unscathed.
Rodon allowed three runs on just three hits and two walks in those 5 ¹/₃ innings.
He pitched backwards often — laying off a four-seam fastball that he threw just 26 percent of the time — and was burned by a few misplaced offerings.
The Reds struck first in the second inning, when Tyler Stephenson singled before Marte jumped on a 92.8 mph four-seamer that got too much of the plate for a two-run shot to left.
Rodon settled in until the fifth inning, when Stuart Fairchild sent a full-count, middle-of-the-plate slider over the left-field wall for a home run.
That comprised the entirety of the Reds’ hits against the lefty, whose ERA rose to 4.45.