Rodon blows kiss to Yankees fans, Kahnle destroys dugout fan as struggles mount

New York Yankees left-hander Carlos Rodon blew a kiss to fans of his team who were booing him after the second inning amid an ugly road start against the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday.

Rodon ended up allowing six earned runs on four hits (two homers) with five walks and three strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings. It was his worst outing since joining the Yankees during the offseason on a six-year, $162-million contract.

"I guess it was the best reaction I could give," Rodon said postgame following a 7-3 loss, according to YES Network. "Better not to give a reaction, I guess. ... Just a frustrating outing, and I showed it there early in the second."

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he hopes Rodon can learn from the incident.

"That probably prevented him from doing something that he didn't want to do, which is yell at a fan or yell at somebody," Boone said. "Not the reaction you want. ... When you're in the arena and you're going through it, sometimes you do things that you don't necessarily want to engage in."

Rodon now owns a 7.36 ERA with 1.43 WHIP over 14 2/3 innings (three starts) this season. The 30-year-old didn't make his 2023 debut until early July due to multiple injuries.

Rodon wasn't the only Yankees pitcher whose frustrations were on public display Wednesday. After allowing a run in the eighth inning, reliever Tommy Kahnle took his anger out on a dugout fan by destroying it beyond use.

New York has lost four straight games and nine out of 11 to drop into last in the AL East. The club is 3.5 games out of the final wild-card spot in the AL and nine behind the division-leading Baltimore Orioles.

"We stink right now," Boone said after the game, according to Yahoo Sports' Brian Paget. "We acknowledge that."