Yankees get revenge as Carlos Rodon quiets slow-trotting Rays to salvage split

The Rays spent the weekend like tourists taking a leisurely stroll through Central Park, except they were doing it around the bases at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees spent Monday afternoon returning the favor, in more ways than one.

Carlos Rodon mostly kept the Rays off the bases altogether in a dominant bounce-back effort while the Yankees out-slugged them with five home runs on the way to a 9-1 win in The Bronx.

Austin Wells, Anthony Volpe, DJ LeMahieu and Juan Soto (twice) all homered to power the Yankees (60-42) to a split of the four-game series ahead of Tuesday’s Subway Series showdown.

“We need all those guys,” Soto said. “At the end of the day, it’s going to take more than two guys [Soto and Aaron Judge] to go to the World Series and win it.”

The Yankees mostly took their time around the bases as well — especially Soto after his first homer, taking 37.7 seconds after a towering 424-foot blast into the luxury boxes, some of it spent making sure it stayed fair — offering a tribute to what the Rays (50-50) had done to them Saturday and Sunday.

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“For me, hot weather, tough day, tried to save the hammies and make sure it’s going nice and easy,” Soto said, though he unofficially circled the bases in 23 seconds on his second homer.

Among the Rays’ eight home runs over the weekend, Randy Arozarena and Jose Siri in particular took their sweet time trotting the bases, which angered the crowd.

Siri was responsible for the only damage off Rodon on Monday with a solo shot and took 30 seconds to get from the batter’s box to the plate , with plenty of gesturing to his teammates and seemingly the crowd along the way — though Siri said he was doing it “to express myself” and not towards anyone else.

“He hit that ball well, he hit the ball out to right,” Rodon said. “He can run as slow or as fast as he wants.”

But Rodon and the Yankees got the last laugh on Monday in the final meeting this season between the teams.

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The left-hander turned in his best start in over a month, striking out a season-high 10 across seven innings.

Rodon had posted a 9.67 ERA in his last six starts before the All-Star break but returned to his early-season form on Monday, if not better.

“He’s been grinding the last couple days and to see him come out today and do what he does best is amazing,” Soto said. “He was pounding the strike zone, throwing great pitches all over the strike zone. I’m more than happy to see that.”

Of Rodon’s 10 strikeouts — tying the most he has recorded as a Yankee — seven came on his slider.

But he leaned on his fastball early as he mowed down the Rays, not allowing a hit until Siri’s blast with one out in the fifth inning.

Wells and Volpe — who unofficially took 27.5 seconds for his home run trot after Wells unofficially took 21.5 — gave the Yankees an early jolt by going back-to-back in the second inning for the 2-0 lead after Rays right-hander Zack Littell had struck out the side in the first.

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It marked Volpe’s first home run since May 16 after going 56 games without one.

Oswaldo Cabrera, getting a start at second base for Gleyber Torres, came through with a clutch hit with two outs in the fourth inning.

He snuck a ground ball through the right side to score Judge and Wells for the 4-0 lead.

Then LeMahieu joined the party in the fifth, belting his first home run of the season in his 40th game — unofficially circling the bases in 21 seconds — to give the Yankees the kind of full-lineup impact they have been missing too often of late.

“It’s always great when the lineup’s rolling and everyone’s getting on base,” said Wells, who went 3-for-5 out of the cleanup spot. “I think we’ve been getting on base and it’s fun to cash ’em in today.”

Of course, then there was Soto to put an exclamation mark on the day, crushing a long solo shot in the seventh inning and a three-run bullet in the eighth to give him 25 home runs on the season.

“That first one was really far,” Rodon said. “The second one was really hard and low. A little treat of both — high launch, low launch. Just a great hitter. Great player.”

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