Carlos Rodon finally pitched like the Yankees needed him to. Rodon found his rhythm, avoided his usual first-inning worries, and stretched to seven innings in what was the left-handers in the Yankees 9-1 victory over the Rays on Monday afternoon to gain a split of the four-game series. Rodon changed his approach against Baltimore on July 15 after batters ate up his fastball. Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Rodon throws to the Tampa Bay Rays in the first inning at Yankee Stadium. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST He instead threw a variety of pitches, but lasted just four innings due to a high pitch count. Against the Rays, he didnt change a good thing after starting out with two fastballs on Amed Rosario to eventually catch the former Met swinging on his third pitch an 86 mph slider for his first of 10 strikeouts on the day. Explore More Rodon, who didnt allow a hit until the fifth inning, went on to throw 11 heaters in the first inning, along with two changeups, one curveball and one slider. Yeah, I think we featured a little more fastball. We moved around a little bit more and the more I do it, the more comfortable I get, Rodon said of his effective Brenden Dillon Jersey adjustment after the win. Its just going out there and doing it. Just moving the fastball around and then throwing some different secondaries, getting ahead in a different way and just finishing with the slider or something different. It worked out. Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Rodon (55) gestures during the seventh inning against the Tampa Bay Rays. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con He kept with his fastball after seeing its effectivene s and it accounted for 54 percent of his pitches, averaging at about 95 mph. He purposely used his slider le s (20 pitches). It [the slider] was good. Used it late in the count, didnt show it early that much, and I think it was a little bit more effective that way, Rodon said. Go beyond the box score with the Bombers Sign up for Inside the Yankees by Greg Joyce, exclusively on Sports+. Thank you By clicking above you agree to the and . Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter! Before Monday, Rodon had a 9.67 ERA in and he had not recorded a seven-inning outing since June 10 against the Royals. Manager Aaron Boone has continually expre sed confidence in Rodon, but did acknowledge how much the left-hander needed Mondays succe sful outing. When youre going through it, to go do your job really effectively and in this case pitch as well as he did, yeah, thats a big deal, Boone said. And hopefully thats something that kind of gets him rolling again. Again, like as hes gone through it here these last several weeks, there has been a lot of what we saw today just in and around some struggles within those outings so I just thought the strike throwing in the command today was excellent. Simon Nemec Jersey