Yankees News: Juan Soto scare, Gleyber Torres X-rays, Carlos Rodón

Would you look at that? The New York Yankees are 2-0 and have made quick work of the Houston Astros after the first couple days of the 2024 MLB season. With how spring training ended on a sour note because of injuries and poor performances, this has certainly been a surprise.

After a comeback 5-4 win on Thursday evening, the Yankees dominated Houston to the tune of 7-1 on Apple TV's Friday Night Baseball. But it took them a little bit to break out.

The offense struggled. The unit was blanked over six innings and registered just four hits and a walk against Cristian Javier. Then, the Astros' bullpen and defense betrayed them. By the top of the ninth, it was 6-1 New York. Their bullpen allowed six runs, their defense committed two errors, and the Yanks' relentless charge delivered another win.

Juan Soto went 3-for-4. Oswaldo Cabrera went 4-for-5. Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run to kick the Astros while they were down in the ninth. And Carlos Rodón battled as best he could.

But the Yankees suffered a few scares, starting with Soto, who twisted his ankle running the bases early on in the contest. The coaching staff went to check on him, putting fans in a panic. Can't have this ... ever. Never. Thankfully, it turned out Soto was OK. He remained in the game, and then brushed off reporters about the topic after the Yankees' win.

Yankees News: Juan Soto scare, Gleyber Torres X-rays, Carlos Rodón

Great game, Juan! Just don't do that again.

That wasn't all for the Yankees' injuries, though. Gleyber Torres endured a scary moment of his own, getting hit on the hand in the seventh inning by Astros reliever Tanner Scott. Torres was taken out of the game and replaced by Jahmai Jones. He was sent for X-rays.

His free pass as a result of the HBP loaded the bases. Soto walked to bring home the go-ahead run. And the Yankees (again) never looked back. As for Torres, his X-rays came back negative, so all is well for now. Don't be surprised if he sits out on Saturday, though.

And finally, you wouldn't know it from the box score, but Carlos Rodón's performance was among the reasons the Yankees were able to hang on and stick it to the Astros.

The left-hander wasn't efficient whatsoever, but he battled. His line wasn't pretty (4.1 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 4 K, 87 pitches) but he got outs when he needed to and avoided the damage after getting himself into trouble. The Astros went 1-for-12 with RISP as a team and the left-hander got some big outs.

There's still work to be done with getting him back on track so he can be among the leaders of the rotation, but a gutsy road performance to start the year after an up-and-down spring, coupled with a team-first attitude after the fact, is just enough to satiate fans for the time being.

Amen. The Yankees' worst-case scenario now is a series split with Houston, which honestly felt like a wildly optimistic outcome just a few days ago.

Hats off to the pitching staff for persevering (the combo of Nick Burdi, Luke Weaver, Victor Gonzalez, Caleb Ferguson and Clayton Beeter allowed just two hits and two walks across 4.2 innings on Friday). Hats off to the lineup for being relentless and scoring 12 runs in the season's first two games.

On Saturday night it'll be Marcus Stroman vs Hunter Brown. Let's notch the series win and play carefree on Easter, eh?