"We're a different team, a better team” - Aaron Boone discusses Yankees’ progress and long-term goals after series win against Astros
The New York Yankees continue their hot start as they registered their 25th win of the season, crushing the Houston Astros, 9-4 on Wednesday night. The game saw impressive performances from Carlos Rodon, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. They are now riding a five-game hitting streak and improved their season record to 6-0 against the Astros.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone praised his team's efforts in the post-game presser. While he acknowledged their good start to the season, he wishes to sustain this level of performance throughout the campaign:
"You gotta include health, which we didn't have a lot of last year," Boone said. "So, we're a different team, a better team, talking about offense. But again, it's also early May, so we gotta do it over the long haul, and make sure we're continuing to just lock in day to day."
Carlos Rodon praises Yankees hitting, giving him confidence to pitch aggressively
It was almost a perfect game for the Yankees, with Carlos Rodon delivering from the mound and the Yankees' offensive trio of Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton all smashing big from the plate.
Rodon pitched 6.1 innings, in which he allowed seven hits, two earned runs and seven Ks. After the game, Rodon praised their offense for giving him a cushion to pitch aggressively at times and get to favorable counts:
"Offense putting up, I think we're at eight runs today," Rodon said. "That makes it a lot easier to pitch when you have a nice lead and you just go attack the zone. Yeah, it's nice when they do that. They're pretty good, huh?"
Juan Soto put everyone on notice after registering five RBIs on the stat board, including a homer he hit in the first. Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton smashed their own solo shots in the third to extend the New York Yankees' lead.
With the win, the Yankees (25-13) closed the gap with the Baltimore Orioles (24-12). This will likely be an interesting duel throughout the year, as the Yankees aim to go deeper this season with a stacked roster.