"Nobody says it's gonna be flowers" - Juan Soto remains upbeat despite consecutive losses from Yankees starters
Juan Soto and the New York Yankees suffered a second consecutive defeat at the hands of the Atlanta Braves in the series opener on Friday. Yankees ace Carlos Rodon endured a tough outing against the Braves hitter.
Just a day after Yankees rookie Luis Gil had suffered his worst start of the season, lasting just 1.1 innings against the Baltimore Orioles, Rodon suffered a similar fate against the Braves.
While Rodon lasted 3.2 innings from the mound, he conceded seven earned runs on a season-high 11 hits. His horrid outing laid the foundation for the Braves' comprehensive eight-run victory.
Despite losing three games on the trot and back-to-back failures of the Yankees starters, Juan Soto remained positive in his post-game comments. The All-Star outfielder firmly said that his team's run through to the World Series was never going to be easy.
"There's gonna be ups and downs throughout the year. Nobody said it's gonna be easy to go through the whole year. Nobody says it's gonna be flowers to roll all the way to the World Series"
Carlos Rodon frustrated with horrid outing for Yankees
Carlos Rodon was booed off the mound by Yankees fans, a scene that was associated with the ace quite frequently last season. However, Rodon felt that the boos from the Bronx faithful were justified.
“It’s just part of it,” Rodon said of the boos. “I didn’t perform, obviously, to the best of my ability. It’s just how it goes here.”
Rodon was visibly frustrated with the second-worst start of his career and was full of emotions after being taken off the mound. He was consoled by Gleyber Torres in the dugout.
“Just pissed off at the situation and emotions got going,’’ Rodon said. “Three runs down, I was a little fiery there.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone feels that it's a learning curve for the clubhouse after losing three games on the bounce.
“It’s been a rough week for us. That’s part of it,“ Boone said. "And it’s in a lot of ways not the worst thing to happen, to make sure in a lot of areas we’re tightened up. Everything’s kind of gone our way and [this is] a reminder that, hey, this thing’s hard.”
The Yankees offense also failed to fire in the series opener, and their only saving grace was Yoendrys Gomez's outing from the mound. Gomez went scoreless in his 4.2 innings, restricting the Braves to eight runs.