Elmer Rodriguez’s dud sends sloppy Yankees to loss against lowly Angels

ANAHEIM, Calif. — After his first four big league starts were all fairly similar — meaning not particularly effective — Elmer Rodríguez dazzled his last time out, offering hope the young right-hander had figured things out in his time back at Triple-A.

Then came another dud Monday, with most of his teammates following suit.

Rodríguez walked three batters, hit two more and gave up four runs in 3 ²/₃ innings as the Yankees fell flat all around following their big weekend against the Red Sox, losing 10-1 to the Angels, who came into the night tied for the worst record in baseball.

Coming off a high-stakes series win over the Red Sox, with four games in three days and then a cross-country flight Sunday night, the Yankees (78-60) were not sharp in any area Monday.

They wasted a chance to pick up a game on the Rays, remaining 4 ¹/₂ games behind them in the division, while the Red Sox moved back within three games of the Yankees for the top AL wild card.

New York Yankees pitcher Elmer Rodriguez comes out of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels in the fourth inning on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. AP Photo/Wally Skalij

Any chance the Yankees had of coming back after Rodríguez spotted the Angels (53-85) a 4-0 lead was sabotaged by some sloppy play late with three errors, two charged to José Caballero on one play.

Rodríguez had actually flown ahead of the rest of his teammates, landing in Los Angeles around 7:30 p.m. local time Sunday to get a good night’s rest, though it did not make a difference. After tossing six innings of three-run ball against the Astros last week, Rodríguez needed 91 pitches to record 11 outs Monday, with his velocity falling off late in addition to his poor command.

In relief, Michael Fulmer, Luis Gil (in his first career relief appearance) and David Bednar (who got hit around in a 28-pitch eighth after pitching just once in the past 10 days) each gave up at least one run, allowing the game to get out of hand.

The Yankees made plenty of loud contact early against Angels right-hander Walbert Ureña with little to show for it before he settled into a groove. They let him off the hook in the first inning, when Trent Grisham — moved out of the leadoff spot against a righty (in favor of Ben Rice) for only the second time since May — struck out to end the threat. Their only run in seven innings against him came on Spencer Jones’ moonshot in the fifth inning.

In each of the first two innings, Rodríguez worked around a two-out walk but issued another to Wade Meckler in the third, two outs after No. 9 hitter Tyler Heineman had led off with a double. That finally came back to hurt him as Vaughn Grissom came up next and roped a single to center to score Heineman for the 1-0 lead.

Michael Fulmer of the New York Yankees reacts to a run from Christian Moore of the Los Angeles Angels after a failed pickoff attempt at second base during the fifth inning at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Getty Images

Rodríguez then got himself in trouble again with two outs in the fourth after hitting ex-Yankee Oswald Peraza and Heineman back-to-back, both on curveballs — a pitch that had been much more effective for him last week.

Zach Neto made him pay, drilling a single through the left side that scored Peraza and put runners on second and third after Cody Bellinger spiked a throw to second base.

Mike Trout followed with a single of his own, punishing another sinker to score both runners, put the Angels ahead 4-0 and knock Rodríguez out of the game.

Fulmer got the final out of the fourth inning but then gave up a pair of runs in an ugly fifth, which were not entirely his fault. With a runner on second and one out, Christian Moore hit a bloop to right field that Jones tried to make a sliding grab on, only to come up short, with his glove flicking the ball back toward the infield and allowing the run to score and Moore to take second on a double.

Fulmer then tried to pick off Moore, but Caballero could not catch the throw — Fulmer was charged with the error that could have been Caballero’s — and it got worse from there, as Grisham lobbed the throw in to no one in particular. That allowed the advantageous Moore to come all the way around to score for the 6-1 lead.

Caballero later committed two errors on one play in the sixth inning behind Gil, who gave up one run in two innings. First, Caballero bobbled a grounder to cost him a shot at a double play, then tried to just get the out at first, which did not happen either after he bounced the throw there, as the Angels made it 7-1.