NEW YORK (AP) — Carlos Rodón's first fastball was lined into left field at 95.8 mph by Jarred Kelenic. His second went off Ozzie Albies' bat at 103.7 mph and landed in the left-field seats.
Two pitches in, and the Atlanta Braves had a 2-0 lead.
“They were definitely attacking it. I should make made an adjustment quicker to try to get to the slow stuff. Need to be better, man. Not good,” Rodón said after the New York Yankees' 8-1 loss on Friday night.
Rodón (9-4) lost his second straight start after winning seven in a row. He gave up eight runs -- seven earned -- in 3 2/3 innings and 11 hits, including seven for extra bases. His ERA has climbed from 2.93 to 3.86 in his last two outings.
“They attacked me on my strengths and they executed their swings,” he said.
He appeared to shout at assistant pitching coach Desi Druschel in the dugout after the top of the first.
“Emotions got going,” Rodón said. “Just a little fiery there. I gave up three runs, two homers, that’s pretty much why.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone was understanding.
“We’re playing for a lot, so no issue with intensity coming out, wanting and expecting more,” Boone said.
Rodón had gotten off to a strong start after going 3-8 with a 6.85 ERA in 14 starts in his first season with the Yankees, who signed him to a $162 million, six-year contract. Rodón’s strikeouts per nine innings have declined from 12.6 in 2021 to 9.0 in 2023 and 8.5 this season.
“Things he and we’re aware of and I think it’s just a matter of making that last little adjustment,” Boone said.
New York has lost five of six, including three in a row while allowing 32 runs to the Braves and Baltimore, and was in danger of dropping below the Orioles into second place in the AL East before Baltimore lost 14-11 at Houston.
By the end of the fourth inning, the Yankees had given up runs in 13 of 14 innings, including nine in a row — tying a team record from June 16-18, 1940.
“It’s been a rough week for us,” Boone said. “It's in a lot of ways not the worst thing to happen, that, hey, I got to make sure in a lot of areas we’re tightened up and — everything’s kind of gone our way and a reminder that, hey, this thing’s hard. You kind of get through this little stretch here, and Carlos will, too.”
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New York Yankees' Carlos Rodón pitches during the first inning of the team's baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Friday, June 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón, right, hands the ball to manager Aaron Boone during the fourth inning of the team's baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Friday, June 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón waits as Atlanta Braves' Austin Riley runs the bases on a home run during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, June 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón watches a two-run home run by Atlanta Braves' Matt Olson during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Friday, June 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders signed off on a trio of top appointments for their shared political institutions on Thursday, reinstalling German conservative Ursula von der Leyen as president of the European Commission for another five years.
At the side of von der Leyen, who heads up the EU’s executive branch, would be two new faces: Antonio Costa of Portugal as European Council president and Estonia’s Kaja Kallas as the top diplomat of the world’s largest trading bloc.
“Satisfaction,” said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a former European Council President. “For Poland and for Europe.”
Both von der Leyen and Kallas should now be approved by European lawmakers. Costa’s nomination only needed the leaders’ approval, and he will start in his new role in fall.
After the three centrist political families in the European Parliament struck a deal earlier this week, the top jobs package was widely expected to be approved at the two-day summit starting Thursday in Brussels.
But far-right politicians, emboldened by their strong showing in EU parliament elections earlier this month, slammed it as a stitch-up in the run-up to the meeting.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni made clear her displeasure at being excluded from preparatory talks with a small group of leaders who divvied up the top jobs. Her nationalist European Conservatives and Reformists group emerged as the third force in the European Parliament elections this month.
Meloni voted against Portugal’s Costa and Estonia’s Kallas, two sources close to the discussions told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Meloni abstained on von der Leyen for European Commission president, the same sources confirmed. The two officials requested anonymity in line with EU practice.
In the end only one leader, nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, voted against the tripartite deal.
“European voters were cheated,” he said on Facebook Thursday evening. “We do not support this shameful agreement!” His objections were moot: the package only needed a two-thirds majority to pass.
The June 6-9 poll saw the EU’s legislature shift to the right and dealt major blows to mainstream governing parties in France and Germany, but the three mainstream groups managed to hold a narrow majority of seats.
Costa, a former Portuguese prime minister, hails from the center-left Socialists and Democrats group, which came second. Kallas is prime minister of her tiny Baltic home country. She comes from the pro-business liberal group, which is also home to embattled French President Emmanuel Macron and lost seats in the June poll, trailing into fourth place.
EU top appointments are supposed to ensure geographic and ideological balance, but ultimately it is the 27 leaders who call the shots - and generally the most powerful among them.
While Costa’s appointment is decided by EU leaders alone, both von der Leyen and Kallas will also need to be approved by a majority of lawmakers. With 720 members, the threshold is 361. That vote could happen when the newly constituted European Parliament meets for the first time in July.
The European Council is the body composed of the leaders of the 27 member states. If confirmed, Costa’s role as president would be to broker deals within an often hopelessly divided political club. In Portugal, he is known as a savvy negotiator.
As foreign affairs chief Kallas, whose country neighbors Russia and has taken a strong line on Moscow in its war with Ukraine, would see her represent the bloc on the world stage.
But von der Leyen’s role is the most powerful. As commission president, her job is to devise and implement the bloc’s shared policy on everything from migration to the economy and environmental rules.
With the far right pushing back against the flagship EU policies ushered through in the last five years, von der Leyen’s critics charge she is poised to roll back ambition.
European Council President Charles Michel, right, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrive for an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, June 27, 2024. European Union leaders are expected on Thursday to discuss the next EU top jobs, as well as the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine, security and defence and EU competitiveness. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
European Council President Charles Michel, right, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrive for an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, June 27, 2024. European Union leaders are expected on Thursday to discuss the next EU top jobs, as well as the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine, security and defence and EU competitiveness. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
European Council President Charles Michel, right, poses with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as they arrive for an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, June 27, 2024. European Union leaders are expected on Thursday to discuss the next EU top jobs, as well as the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine, security and defence and EU competitiveness. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
European Council President Charles Michel, right, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrive for an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, June 27, 2024. European Union leaders are expected on Thursday to discuss the next EU top jobs, as well as the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine, security and defence and EU competitiveness. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
European Council President Charles Michel, right, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speak with the media during arrivals for an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, June 27, 2024. European Union leaders are expected on Thursday to discuss the next EU top jobs, as well as the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine, security and defence and EU competitiveness. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
European Council President Charles Michel, right, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speak with the media during arrivals for an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, June 27, 2024. European Union leaders are expected on Thursday to discuss the next EU top jobs, as well as the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine, security and defence and EU competitiveness. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks with the media as he arrives for an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, June 27, 2024. European Union leaders are expected on Thursday to discuss the next EU top jobs, as well as the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine, security and defence and EU competitiveness. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
European Council President Charles Michel, right, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speak with the media during arrivals for an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, June 27, 2024. European Union leaders are expected on Thursday to discuss the next EU top jobs, as well as the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine, security and defence and EU competitiveness. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk speaks with the media as he arrives for an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, June 27, 2024. European Union leaders are expected on Thursday to discuss the next EU top jobs, as well as the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine, security and defence and EU competitiveness. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
Bulgaria's Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev arrives for an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, June 27, 2024. European Union leaders are expected on Thursday to discuss the next EU top jobs, as well as the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine, security and defence and EU competitiveness. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
Pedestrians walk in front of a banner outside EU headquarters ahead of an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, June 27, 2024. European Union leaders are expected to discuss the next EU top jobs, as well as the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine, security and defence and EU competitiveness. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
European Union flags flap in the wind ahead of an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, June 27, 2024. European Union leaders are expected to discuss the next EU top jobs, as well as the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine, security and defence and EU competitiveness. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
