NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón exited his start against the Houston Astros in the third inning Sunday with left hamstring tightness.
Rodón threw a 96 mph fastball to Chas McCormack well outside the strike zone and appeared to stiffen up as he began circling the area behind the pitcher’s mound. An athletic trainer and New York manager Aaron Boone came out to check on Rodón, who threw two warmup pitches. That was followed by a second meeting, where they were joined by plate umpire Angel Hernandez.
Rodón was then replaced by rookie Jhony Brito.
“It was more of a precautionary thing,” Rodón said after New York’s 9-7 loss. “In this moment I feel normal, but one of those things we’ll have to see what tomorrow holds.”
After being examined at Yankee Stadium by a doctor, Rodón will get additional tests in the next 24 hours, the team said. Boone was unsure if Rodón would require another stint on the injured list.
“We’ll have an MRI tomorrow and then we’ll have an idea,” Boone said.
Signed to a $162 million, six-year contract in the offseason, Rodón missed the first three-plus months of the season with a forearm strain and a bad back. The 30-year-old left-hander has been a disappointment since, allowing four earned runs or more in four of his six starts.
He struggled Sunday against the Astros, giving up five runs over 2 2/3 innings — including homers to Jake Meyers and Yordan Alvarez. Rodón struck out five but has a 7.33 ERA in 27 innings this season.
“I’m pretty frustrated,” Rodón said. “This is not the way I wanted to come out here and perform.”
Brito threw 25 pitches in 1 2/3 innings and was optioned back to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after the game.
New York fell 4 1/2 games behind Toronto for the final AL wild card.
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