Carlos Rodon’s opening pitch on Tuesday night smashed into one of the Green Monster’s light towers.

Rodon allowed a double on his third pitch, walked the next hitter, and then struck out the next three in order to get out of the first inning unscathed.

It was a fitting beginning to a bizarre night for the Yankees’ left-hander, who showed both his good and terrible sides while tossing five innings of one-run ball in a 4-1 victory over the Red Sox in the nightcap of a doubleheader sweep at Fenway Park.

On a night when his fastball velocity was up and still hitting 98 mph in the fifth inning, Rodon recorded eight of the first nine outs he recorded by striking them out.

However, he also allowed some heavy contact and struggled with command (two pitches were Һit by the backstop).

This was an improvement from Rodon’s previous performance, in which he allowed seven runs in just three and a third innings against the Tigers, but otherwise continued his miserable season.

The Yankees have nothing to play for in the remaining month of the season, but Rodon may need a good offseason to help him get back on track in 2019.

Whereas in most of his starts this year, Rodon has relied solely on his fastball and slider, he showed a more varied repertoire of secondary pitches on Tuesday.

He threw 93 pitches, with 50 being fastballs (54%), 25 being sliders (27%), and the remaining 14% and 5% being curveballs and changeups, respectively.

The sole blemish on Rodon’s final line was the first-inning home run that Red Sox rookie Ceddanne Rafaela Һit off of him.

In 51 and a third innings this season, he has already surrendered 13 home runs, surpassing the 12 he allowed in 178 innings last year.Estevan Florial’s RBI single in the fifth inning and Jake Bauers’ fielder’s choice in the sixth inning led to a comeback victory for the Yankees.

Yankees relievers Zach McAllister, Anthony Misiewicz, Matt Bowman, and Nick Ramirez came out of the bullpen after Rodon.

McAllister (age 35) pitched a scoreless sixth inning, while Bowman (age 32) pitched a scoreless eighth inning, both in their first major league games since 2018 and 2019, respectively.