Carlos Rodón found himself in a unique situation in his return from the injured list Thursday, pitching in the rain in a stadium that has a roof.
There was even a brief delay in the fifth inning for the grounds crew to work on the Rogers Centre mound while the ballpark officials closed the roof.
“I guess it didn’t handle the rain too well,” Rodón said of the mound. “It was kind of slick, felt a little sticky there, so I figured just take advantage of getting the mound fixed up and let that roof close a little more and the rain would eventually just go away because the roof was going to close.”
After the pause, Rodón struck out Toronto Blue Jays cleanup hitter Teoscar Hernández with two runners on to end a threat. Rodón finished the solid outing on that positive note.
He allowed two runs on five hits with three strikeouts and a walk in five innings as the Sox defeated the Blue Jays, 10-7.
“I felt pretty good today,” Rodón said. “Obviously some pitches I’d like to have back but made some good pitches. They really made it hard, they didn’t strike out, they put the ball in play. It’s a good lineup.”
He left with the Sox holding a five-run lead. They scored two in the top of the sixth, only for the Blue Jays to score five runs against reliever Michael Kopech in the bottom of the inning to pull within 9-7.
Ryan Tepera and Garrett Crochet followed with scoreless innings, and Eloy Jiménez homered in the ninth — the team’s fourth of the game — before Craig Kimbrel earned the save as the Sox earned a split of the four-game series.
The Sox wrapped up a two-week stretch against playoff contenders — the New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Tampa Bay Rays and Blue Jays — with a 7-7 record.
“We showed a lot of toughness in those games,” manager Tony La Russa said. “An example, the first one against the Yankees (in the Field of Dreams game) and the last one (Thursday) against Toronto. Those were really tough wins.”
Rodón pitched for the first time since Aug. 7. The Sox placed the All-Star on the injured list on Aug. 11 (retroactive to Aug. 8) with left shoulder fatigue.
“I thought he was outstanding,” La Russa said. “He looked in the form he has been every start this year. Outstanding. Tough to (pitch) against that lineup, very encouraging. Can’t wait to send him back out there.”
Rodón received plenty of offensive support along the way. César Hernández, Luis Robert, José Abreu and Jiménez homered.
Hernández’s home run to left tied the game at 1 in the second. He went 2 for 4, scored twice and played stellar defense at second base.
“Huge day for him,” shortstop Tim Anderson said. “He played both sides of the ball. That’s one reason why we made that trade, to get him over here to do that.”
Robert hit a 410-foot, two-run homer in the third. Abreu followed with a home run to left. The back-to-back home runs gave the Sox a 4-1 lead.
The Sox scored three more runs in the fourth. Leury García had a two-run double and Anderson drove him in with a single, stretching the lead to 7-1. Anderson had three hits, two RBIs and scored a run.
The Blue Jays scored once in the fifth and got to Kopech in the sixth. The right-hander allowed five runs on four hits and hit a batter in his inning of work.
“I thought he had one of his best fastballs all season,” La Russa said. “The way he was getting out in front and letting it go, the ball was just jumping. He got ahead of hitters and mixed in a breaking ball. Just hung a couple and good hitters hit them.”
Tepera, Crochet and Kimbrel retired nine of the last 10 batters to wrap up the win. Kimbrel earned his first save since being traded to the Sox.
“I was working on staying back and being behind the ball,” Kimbrel said. “Today was a great opportunity to go out there and face the top of their lineup and get back on my back side and let it go and see how everything was playing.
“They were hacking today. It’s not too many times that every pitch you throw, the guys swing at. It just felt good to go out there and do my job and help the team win and get us home.”
The Sox head back to Guaranteed Rate Field to begin a three-game series Friday against the Chicago Cubs. And catcher Yasmani Grandal, who has been on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte, likely will join them.
“There’s a chance he’s going to be back this weekend,” La Russa said of Grandal before Thursday’s game. Grandal has been out since July 6 with a torn tendon in his left knee.
It would give a team fresh off one of its toughest stretches of the season another impact bat.
“Last two weeks or so, we’ve played some really good teams,” Kimbrel said. “Played some really close ballgames and I think we’ve got a taste of what it’s going to look like later in the year. We’ve got to figure out where’s the difference and what we’ve got to do better.”
Rodón is eager to keep doing his part.
“It’s on to the next one,” Rodón said. “Just back into a routine. The pitch count’s going to build itself. I’m not really worried about that. I just want to compete ... and throw the ball well.”
