Carlos Rodón controls his emotions and Guardians’ bats, gets first career postseason win

NEW YORK (AP) — Carlos Rodón controlled his emotions — and the Cleveland Guardians’ bats.

In a reversal from his amped-up outing in the Division Series last week, Rodón dominated for six innings while helping the New York Yankees to a 5-2 victory in Monday night’s AL Championship Series opener for his first career postseason win.

“The goal was to just stay in control, stay in control of what I can do, obviously physically and emotionally,” Rodón said. “I thought I executed that well tonight.”

Rodón lost Game 2 of the Division Series to Kansas City when he admittedly overthrew. His fastball was 1.6 mph above his season average and after striking out his first three batters and allowing just two hits through three innings, he gave up a leadoff home run to Salvador Perez that sparked a four-run fourth in a 4-2 defeat.

That dropped Rodón to 0-2 with an 11.37 ERA in three postseason appearances, including a pair of starts. He studied Gerrit Cole in the Yankees' clinching 3-1 win in Game 4 and tried to emulate the ace's demeanor.

“There's runners on and he gets out of a jam,” Rodón said. “It’s pretty even keel walking off the mound. There’s no screaming. There’s no fist pumping or anything. He’s just, like I said, like a robot. He walks out and walks across the line and into the dugout.”

Cole took Rodón's attention as a compliment after his teammate pitched like a rotation complement.

“I think it’s just one of those things, as players we’re constantly adjusting to the experiences that we have," Cole said. "Sometimes you can’t predict everything and when something doesn’t go your way, you’re challenged to adjust. I think he did a great job.”

Rodón struck out nine and walked none, getting 25 misses among 53 swings, the most for the Yankees in a postseason game since pitch-tracking started in 2008. His pitches broke so much that catcher Austin Wells had to throw to first three times on strikeouts to get the putouts.

“We talked about how would he take the experience of the first time out, and I felt like he totally applied all of that,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I thought he was just in complete command of himself and of his emotions.”

Rodón limited the Guardians to a pair of singles before Brayan Rocchio’s sixth-inning homer.

“He was very aware what the last outing ended up being and just kind of how the emotions just got a little bit away from him early," pitching coach Matt Blake said. "Each inning you could tell he was trying to stay steady and be neutral about it and just keep collecting outs.”

Boone described Rodón's change in attitude as adding poise to intensity.

“It’s not that it’s hard,” Rodón said. “It’s just being mindful of it and being focused on the next pitch, and I think that kind of leads to that robot — that poker face.”

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Cleveland Guardians' Brayan Rocchio, center, hits a home run off New York Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Rodón (55) during the sixth inning in Game 1 of the baseball AL Championship Series Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Rodón throws against the Cleveland Guardians during the second inning in Game 1 of the baseball AL Championship Series Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Godofredo Vásquez )

New York Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Rodón throws during the first inning in Game 1 of the baseball AL Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Godofredo Vásquez)

New York Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Rodón throws during the first inning in Game 1 of the baseball AL Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Godofredo Vásquez)

New York Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Rodón reacts while throwing against the Cleveland Guardians during the sixth inning in Game 1 of the baseball AL Championship Series Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Godofredo Vásquez)

MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — Germany on Saturday was still in shock and struggling to understand the suspect behind the attack in the city of Magdeburg.

Identified by local media as 50-year-old Taleb A., a psychiatry and psychotherapy specialist, authorities said he has been living in Germany for two decades. He was arrested on site after plowing a black BMW into a Christmas market crowded with holiday shoppers Friday evening, killing at least five people and wounding about 200 others.

Prominent German terrorism expert Peter Neumann posted on X that he had yet to come across a suspect in an act of mass violence with that profile.

Taleb’s X account is filled with tweets and retweets focusing on anti-Islam themes and criticism of the religion while sharing congratulatory notes to Muslims who left the faith. He also described himself as a former Muslim.

He was critical of German authorities, saying they had failed to do enough to combat the “Islamism of Europe.”

He has also voiced support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Some described Taleb as an activist who helped Saudi women flee their homeland. Recently, he seemed focused on his theory that German authorities have been targeting Saudi asylum seekers.

Neumann, the terrorism expert, wrote: “After 25 years in this ‘business’ you think nothing could surprise you anymore. But a 50-year-old Saudi ex-Muslim who lives in East Germany, loves the AfD and wants to punish Germany for its tolerance towards Islamists — that really wasn’t on my radar."

A person stands by flowers and candles placed outside St. John's Church near a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)