"I don't want to come off the wrong way" - Carlos Rodon addresses his frustration after being pulled off the mound by Aaron Boone against Reds

New York Yankees southpaw Carlos Rodon was frustrated in the middle of the sixth inning when manager Aaron Boone replaced him with Michael Tonkin to get the final two outs of the inning against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday.

Rodon, who retired Elly De La Cruz, walked Jeimer Candelario, which prompted Boone to avoid the lefty seeing the clean-up hitter. He called up the bullpen and Rodon, who had thrown 95 pitches, had to exit.

Tonkin registered the final two outs to put a closure to it. However, in the post-game interview, when asked about his refusal to come out, Carlos Rodon said that it was his competitive spirit that took over.

"Yeah, I mean, it's just me competing and you know, I don't want to come off the wrong way," Rodon said.

"I wanted to stay in and get those last two outs in that inning. But you know, I understand that, you know, turn it over to Tonkin, and he gets two outs easy. You know, he's great."

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Yankees suffer narrow loss to Reds; Carlos Rodon's pitching woes continue

MLB: Minnesota Twins at New York Yankees (IMAGN)

Before exiting, Carlos Rodon threw 5.1 innings for three earned runs while striking out eight.

However, he wasn't efficient, as he walked three and surrendered three hits. More so, Rodon hasn't been pitching well, at least in his last four starts, which witnessed his ERA take a jump from a stellar 2.93 to a 4.45 mark.

The Yankees, who were trailing 3-0 when Rodon was pulled out, couldn't muster enough runs on offense, as they suffered a 3-2 defeat to the Cincinnati Reds.

Anthony Volpe registered a two-run double in the seventh against Fernando Cruz, which cut the deficit to one run. However, despite the Yankees reaching closer to tying the game in the eighth, Reds reliever Justin Wilson escaped a jam.

Closer Alexis Diaz secured the save in the ninth to land the Yankees their 34th loss of the season. Before this game, the Reds won the first game of the series as well. The two teams play the final game of the series on Thursday.