Carlos Rodon breaks down in the all-too-familiar Yankees scene against the Royals

This was supposed to be a different Carlos Rodon.

That was a reliable starter throughout his second season in the Bronx.

Instead, the Yankees got something much closer to what they saw in Rodon's first year with the team, as Rodon didn't make it into the fourth inning of a 4-2 Game 2 loss against the Royals in the Bronx in the ALDS.

Rodon's Yankee postseason career appeared to be off to a great start before he was isolated in the fourth.

He struck out early in the order, needing only a dozen pitches, and he punctuated each whiff with exclamations, spinning on the mound and yelling.

That confidence soon led to an outing that ended with Rodon giving up four runs in 3 ²/₃ innings.

In a scene all too familiar to Yankee fans, Rodon saw his stuff quickly disappear, this time in a critical situation, as the Yankees allowed four runs in the top of the fourth after taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third. .

Rodon looked dominant in the first two innings, striking out four and retiring six of the first seven batters before allowing two hits in the third.

But Salvador Perez led off the fourth with a booming homer to left on a swinging 2-0 slider to tie the game at 1-1, and things got worse from there.

Yuli Gurriel singled – yes, off a slider – and moved to second on a wild pitch

Tommy Pham put Kansas City ahead with a single to right-center off another weak slider, and after Rodon was on the verge of ending the inning on a Hunter Renfro strikeout, Rodon was burned again by a single to right off a slider. Garrett Hampson made it 3-1 and ended his night.

Ian Hamilton entered and gave up an RBI single to Garcia for the fourth and final run of the inning.

The final result was much different than the early going.

The Yankees hoped the 31-year-old would follow up his strong regular season, which saw him finish with a 2.20 ERA over his last five starts, by giving them more power to take a 2-0 series lead over Kansas City.

Instead, Rodon faced six batters in the fourth and struck out four of them, and the Yankees' offense couldn't get anything going against lefty Cole Ragans or four Kansas City relievers.