The only sign that Carlos Rodon was hot this start was that he was the only player on the field for ALCS Game 1 wearing short sleeves.

The first pitch on Monday was at 50 degrees and the temperature dropped as the innings went by. The flags at the top of Yankee Stadium were flapping so loudly that you could sometimes hear them, even at 47,264 at the highest volume.

As an outdoorsman, Rodon said, he likes cold weather and thought it had been at least five years since he last wore long sleeves. Regardless of the weather Monday night, Rodon was chilly. That’s what he promised and what the Yankees wanted and needed.

“I thought he was in complete control of himself and his emotions,” Aaron Boone said after Rodon posted six stunning one-run innings in a 5-2 Yankee victory over the Guardians.

Rodon’s temperament became a major issue in the Division Series. Undermined by roiling emotions in his first Yankee season in 2023, Rodon was better in every way in 2024. But when the Yankees lost so far this postseason — Game 2 against the Royals — Rodon found himself on fire. He struck out three in the first inning and celebrated them all as if New Year’s had struck. By the fourth inning he was exhausted and eventually eliminated from a game. He lost control of his balance and the strike zone.

The Yankees wondered if they really wanted to open a Championship Series with the southpaw. But among the Yankees, there is no one who self-analyses to reporters as honestly as Rodon. And his session Sunday was more therapy than a press conference. He admitted that he was unable to take a deep breath and collect himself. And quoted how Gerrit Cole had rolled through inning after inning emotionlessly and with a “poker face” in the Yankees’ Game 4.

Why it would take a 10-year Major Leaguer with that long of postseason experience to learn that lesson is one of the mysteries that comes with the Rodon experience. But at least he learned it. He tried to be, in his words, “a robot.”

“The goal was to just keep control of what I can do, obviously physically and emotionally,” Rodon said. “I thought I did so well tonight.”

Unlike against the Royals, the first inning was in many ways his toughest against Cleveland. Steven Kwan opened by fouling three two-strike throws and forcing a nine-pitch battle before flying out. David Fry singled and Rodon trailed all four batters in a 22-pitch inning.

He faced 17 more batters and struck out on the first pitch to 13, going to just one three-ball count and ultimately not walking, striking out nine, causing 25 swings-and-misses, mostly with a fastball in which he worked well to right. hitters and by unleashing a threatening slider. Brayan Rocchio led off the sixth inning with a homer, but with Clay Holmes warming up, Rodon finished the sixth and maintained the 4-1 lead.

“There were obviously a lot of questions that came up (the start vs. the Royals) as to whether (Rodon) would start Game 1 or 3 (ALCS),” pitching coach Matt Blake said. “There was noise around it. But he set a tone for us here. He was aggressive and took out guys who wouldn’t normally hit and he showed us that he could be stable and neutral with his emotions. He never let it get too big.”

And the Yankees needed his work and the continued excellent bullpen work of Holmes and Luke Weaver, both of whom have appeared in all five Yankee postseason games without allowing a run.

As against Kansas City, there was another opportunity in the first inning for Aaron Judge to break a game open, but he struck out with two outs and is now hitless in his last 21 postseason at bats in the first inning with 11 strikeouts. That led to the Yanks going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and 6-for-42 (.143) in the postseason.

These Yankees do less with more: They get plenty of baserunners, especially via walks, and don’t make enough to create comfort in any of these games.

Juan Soto led off the third with his first Yankee postseason homer. What followed was a nine-batter series that bridged the third and fourth inning, with Alex Cobb and Joey Cantillo combining to walk six and throw four wild pitches (all from Cantillo), including two that scored runs. It did make it 4-0. But apart from the Soto homer, there were no other hits, even though they could have broken the game open. The Yanks went 2-for-12 with men on base and are now 16-for-84 (.190) in the playoffs. The only hit the Yanks recorded after the Soto homer was one by Giancarlo Stanton with two outs in the seventh – his 13th homer in 32 Yankee playoff games.

It was enough to put the Yankees at 4-1 in these playoffs and one-zero lead in the ALCS because the run prevention was excellent – ​​led by Rodon on Monday.

He came out with short sleeves, but was a businessman who kept his cool all the time.