Yankees continue to roll, while two All-Star reinforcements get ready

NEW YORK – In winning 15 of their last 17 games, the Yankees have done a lot of very good things against a lot of pedestrian AL teams.

Top to bottom, their lineup has kept the pressure on opposing pitching – now with 46 runs scored during a five-game winning streak.

Their bullpen, as manager Aaron Boone noted after Tuesday night’s 7-4 win against Texas, might “just be better than everyone thinks, first of all.’’

And the Yanks’ rotation – with an MLB-best 2.77 ERA – is about to get another upgrade, probably on Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee.

That’s when Carlos Rodon could make his 2026 Yankees debut, following a minor league rehab assignment.

Rodon close to returning, Cole not far behind

Boone said the plan is to activate Rodon, who tossed 83 pitches across 6.1 innings on Tuesday night for Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

And the veteran lefty – coming back from October surgery to remove loose bodies near his pitching elbow - is due to replace rookie Elmer Rodriguez, optioned back to Triple-A following Tuesday night’s start at Yankee Stadium.

Also on Tuesday night, ace right-hander Gerrit Cole (Tommy John surgery recovery) moved a bit closer to the Bronx with a 69-pitch, 4.1-inning rehab start at Class A Hudson Valley.

Cole’s exact return date to the Yanks’ rotation is undefined, but if he’s even three rehab starts away, that still puts him in play later this month.

And that could push a healthy starter like Ryan Weathers to the bullpen, potentially helping to strengthen what was believed to be the Yankees’ most vulnerable area.

On Tuesday night, a chain of four Yankees relievers stitched together 4.1 innings of one-run pitching, ending with David Bednar’s five-out save.

“Everybody picking each other up,’’ Bednar said of the “next man up mentality’’ of a bullpen that stranded each of its eight inherited runners Tuesday night.

That’s just the second time the Yanks have accomplished the feat during the Expansion Era (since 1961), and their relief corps has posted a 2.34 ERA over its last 17 games (50 innings).

Boone said he was dealing with a taxed bullpen to start Tuesday night, and he had to get Ryan Yarbrough (who did not pitch) warming up during a three-run first inning against Rodriguez.

But in his second MLB start (both against the Rangers), Rodriguez held serve, and handed off to lefty Brent Headrick, who got out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam to keep it a 3-3 game in the fifth.

As valuable a weapon as they’ve had in the ‘pen, Headrick retired all four batters he faced Tuesday – three on strikeouts – and continued his MLB-best streak of not allowing any of his 13 inherited runners to score.

Yankees' comeback vs. Jacob deGrom

Boosted by their bullpen, the Yanks were able to completely overcome a 3-0 deficit against Jacob deGrom (2.01 ERA entering Tuesday, coming off a sharp six-inning effort vs. the Yanks last week).

It was back-to-back doubles by Aaron Judge and the red-hot Cody Bellinger – who missed a homer by inches - in the first.

It was a two-run homer by the rallying Ryan McMahon (batting .325 over his last 12 games) in the second.

And it was Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s tie-breaking homer in the sixth off deGrom, punctuated by a dramatic bat flip, that boosted the Yanks toward their AL-best 25^th win in 36 games this year.

“The positivity in the clubhouse right now is just super crazy,’’ said Chisholm, who watched the Rangers intentionally walk Judge to load the bases in the seventh…

…only to set up a lefty-lefty matchup vs. Bellinger, who continued to defy such strategy by stroking a two-run double against Jalen Beeks.

Paul Goldschmidt added a solo home run in the eighth, and maybe by Thursday's series finale, they'll have Ben Rice (left hand contusion) back at first base.

"(We're a) fairly confident group that's playing really well,'' said Bednar, and soon there'll probably be a couple of All-Star additions in Rodon and Cole.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Yankees continue to roll, while two All-Star reinforcements get ready