CHICAGO _ About 20 minutes into Wednesday's game against the Yankees at Guaranteed Rate Field, Carlos Rodon's first start of the season looked like a mess.
The Sox left-hander, debuting after a three-month recovery from biceps bursitis, walked three, gave up three runs and was so wild he threw a pitch over Didi Gregorius' head in the first inning.
With a little help from his defense, Rodon cleaned it up to a somewhat presentable first start, but the Yankees pulled away after he left in a 12-3 Sox loss, their fifth in six games on their homestand.
Rodon pitched four more scoreless innings and finished with two hits, six walks and two strikeouts to keep the Sox within striking distance.
Rodon's outing wasn't ideal _ he threw just 41 of his 94 pitches for strikes _ but it was certainly better than rehabbing in Arizona, where he watched Sox games from the couch and occupied his time by right-handed bowling a couple of times.
"I think my high score was a 114," Rodon said.
In his return to his primary sport, Rodon walked the first batter he faced, Brett Gardner, who advanced on two wild pitches and scored on shortstop Tim Anderson's high throw to first base for an error. After Rodon walked two more, Miguel Andujar recorded his first major-league hit with a two-run single up the middle.
All three runs were unearned against Rodon.
Rodon's results might have been worse, but the defense stepped it up, starting with left fielder Melky Cabrera, who threw out Chase Headley at the plate to end the third. Adam Engel made a tumbling, highlight-reel catch in center field in the fourth, and Todd Frazier made a diving stop on a grounder to start a double play in the fifth.
The Yankees tacked on five runs against reliever Jake Petricka in the sixth, including a two-run shot from Aaron Judge, his 27th of the season. Petricka was ejected at the end of the inning, and Sox manager Rick Renteria was tossed during it, his fifth ejection of the season and third of the current homestand.
Sox reliever Michael Ynoa gave up four runs in the ninth, including Gregorius' two-run homer.
Cabrera's two-run single in the fifth gave the Sox their only runs against Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka over his six innings.
Adam Engel hit a solo homer in the ninth.
