Carlos Rodon, Yankees’ bullpen continues hot stretch in sweep of Rangers: ‘It’s a collective effort’

Yankees starter Carlos Rodon had yet another strong performance in Thursday’s 1-0 win over the Texas Rangers to cap off the three-game sweep, tossing six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts.

It’s Rodon’s second straight win, lowering his ERA to 1.90 in May over four starts and 2.88 overall on the year across 11 starts. The left-hander hasn’t lost a game since April 13, when he dropped his third straight outing, going 5-0 over his last seven games.

After the win, manager Aaron Boone told reporters that this type of stretch from Rodon was exactly what he warned about earlier in the season, knowing what the lefty is capable of on the mound.

“I tried to tell you this when he gave up the three-run homers and everyone was losing their mind. He’s about to roll off a bunch in a row,” Boone said. “I think it’s been since the start of the season. I think if you go back to Opening Day, you have the two outings that got wrecked by the three-run homer, but even in those, it’s been (good).

“I don’t know, how many starts has he made now? Probably 10, 11? I think they’ve all been really, really strong. A pitch here and there in a couple of them and it’s even at another level, but it’s been a lot of really good.”

Rodon has tossed six-plus innings in all but three starts this season, saying it’s the starting rotation’s goal to throw as many innings as they can to help the bullpen and get the slugging offense more chances to score.

“Yeah, we just got to keep going, just keep going deep into games,” Rodon said. “You know, not taxing the bullpen, just getting through six, seven innings, as many outs as we can. Just getting ahead of hitters and giving our offense a chance to get in the dugout and swing the bats.”

Once Rodon’s day was done, Mark Leiter Jr. came in and tossed a scoreless inning, followed by another dominant outing from Devin Williams. Since losing the closer role on April 27, allowing three runs on May 7 against the San Diego Padres, Williams has an ERA of 0.00 and 10 strikeouts over seven games (6.1 IP), allowing just two hits and one walk. Williams earned his fifth hold of the year with a 1-2-3 eighth inning on Thursday.

“Devin’s the man, he’s obviously one of the best in the game,” closer Luke Weaver said after the win. “There’s adjustment periods… you’re just trying to minimize mistakes. Sometimes they are completely uncontrollable and they stack up and you’re trying to stop that momentum. Sometimes they’re minimal and we can make those mistakes quick. Sometimes we get lucky and sometimes we don’t.

“With all that being said, it’s awesome to have him do his thing. I certainly wasn’t worried about him for one second. He’s found his rhythm, he’s controlling his game, his tempo, and he’s just dominant.”

Weaver picked up the save (No. 7 on the year), getting two flyouts and a strikeout to seal the deal. The 31-year-old, who’s pitching to a career-best 0.40 ERA across 21 games, added that everyone in the bullpen is rooting for each other’s success. The Yankees own the majors’ seventh-best ERA at 3.42 and are top-10 in bullpen ERA at 3.38.

“It’s a collective effort,” Weaver said. “Everybody is rooting hard for each other, we want to make sure that we pick each other up. There’s different days where, if a guy’s down and we got to go one-plus, we got to figure out ways to piece it together. We always want our starter to go nine, we’re just there as backup. When the game dictates situations, we just want to be prepared. We’ll give hopefully big high fives and hugs after the fact and say, ‘Get ’em tomorrow.'”

After going 15-13 in April, the Yanks have gone 12-6 this month and are riding a four-game winning streak heading out West for a three-game series with the Colorado Rockies.

The Ninja Woodfire Is the Mini Electric Smoker I’ve Always Wanted, and It’s on Sale Right Now

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There are certain limitations that I tolerate with apartment living. One of these that I begrudgingly accept is the lack of an outdoor grill set up. Apparently building owners don’t want flames spitting and embers glowing within 10 feet of their precious buildings—fine. But what if I could smoke meat with real wood pellets and also not set my apartment on fire? Well the Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Grill and Smoker is offering this opportunity. I’ve had my eye on it for a while now, and it’s finally on sale for Memorial Day. 

The Ninja Woodfire Grill and Smoker is an electric grill. I know, I know, many electric grills are basically glorified waffle irons, but the Ninja uses a combination of convection fan heating and an attached pellet smoke box to give you a lot more flavor than what a Foreman might. Unlike other air fryers masquerading as grills or smokers, the Woodfire Grill and Smoker is made to be used outdoors. It’s weather resistant, so you can build a permanent grill set-up with a stand and cover to keep it in tip-top shape. 

The regular Ninja Woodfire Grill and Smoker is on sale for $249.99, 32% off of its normal retail price of $369.99—this is the one I’ve been looking at because it has the smoke box, and that’s all I’ve coveted this whole time. However, the Ninja Woodfire Pro Connect Premium XL is also on sale right now for $399.99, 20% off its usual retail price of $499.99. This one has two attached probe thermometers and Bluetooth connectivity so you can monitor your smoked duck from the living room with the Ninja Woodfire Pro Connect app. 

It’s a question of whether you’d like a few more inches of real estate and app monitoring. If you are cooking for a smaller household and you don’t mind checking the temperature yourself, go for the original. Bigger households or those hosting frequent backyard barbecue parties might get better usage out of the Pro Connect Premium XL model. Either choice is a great one for this weekend’s festivities, not to mention the entire summer ahead. 

How to Export Your Saved Articles Before Pocket Shuts Down for Good

The beloved read-it-later app Pocket is shutting down, and Mozilla is giving current users until Oct. 8 to download saved items from their lists, archives, favorites, notes, and highlights.

As of today, Pocket is no longer available in app stores or as a browser add-on, and all sign-ups and renewals have been disabled. The app will shut down for good on July 8, and transition to export-only mode. Users will have until Oct. 8 to export their saves, after which all accounts and data will be deleted.

How to export your saved items from Pocket

To initiate an export from Pocket, go to https://getpocket.com/export. You’ll first want to ensure your account is connected to a valid email address—shown at the top left of the page when logged in—you can access, as your saves will be sent to your inbox. (If needed, you can change the primary address on your Mozilla account.)

Next, click the Export HTML file button. You’ll see a message confirming your request and will receive a link via email to download a CSV with URLs of your saves.

Mozilla says this can take 24 hours and up to 7 days in some cases. The link expires after 48 hours, so check your spam if you don’t see an export email. You can request a new link by repeating the same steps.

You don’t need to delete your account or data, as Mozilla will do so after October 8. You will, however, have to manually remove the app and browser extension once you’ve exported your saves. Monthly renewals for Pocket Premium are ceasing immediately, and annual subscribers will automatically receive a prorated refund after July 8.

While Pocket is one of the most popular read-it-later apps, it isn’t the only one. We’ve compiled a list of alternatives you can switch to.

Five Cheaper Alternatives to Black and Decker Tools

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If you have a workshop in your house or enjoy doing DIY projects, you probably know that tools were already expensive way before tariffs entered the picture. Anyone who works with tools on a regular basis is generally happy to pay a bit more for something that doesn’t fall apart after a few uses, so defaulting to a major brand that’s still in the low- to mid-budget range like Black and Decker (Stanley Black and Decker also owns the Craftsman and DeWalt brands) always made sense.

As predicted, the company just announced higher prices in response to the tariff situation, which means buying tools from Stanley Black and Decker may now be beyond a lot of people’s budgets. If that’s you, it’s time to investigate some of the more affordable tool brands that can still get the job done for you.

It’s important to note that almost all the major tool brands manufacture most, if not all, of their tools overseas, and so will be subject to some amount of tariffs—but if you’re starting at a lower price point to begin with, an additional tax in the form of a tariff may not price you out. Here are your best affordable alternatives to Black and Decker tools.

Bauer

If you buy tools regularly, you know that Harbor Freight is a company known for tools that are often suspiciously cheap. The mystery of Harbor Freight is that sometimes its tools seem to turn into their component atoms right before your eyes the moment you use them, but sometimes its tools are surprisingly robust.

Bauer is one of Harbor Freight’s in-house tool brands that gets decent reviews for longevity and usefulness, but Bauer tools are almost always much cheaper than Black and Decker tools and other competing brands. For example, as of this writing I found this 6-amp B&D Hammer Drill for $85, whereas a slightly more powerful one from Bauer is just $45.

Ridgid

Ridgid tools are exclusively sold at physical Home Depot stores, though you can buy them online from a variety of places. It’s long been considered a solid mid-tier brand—you’re not passing a Ridgid tool down to your children, maybe, but you’re probably going to get a lot of use out of them, and they’re generally good enough for most jobs. Plus, they’re significantly cheaper than most Stanley Black and Decker brands. Ridgid and Black and Decker tools have generally been in the same price category, but with Stanley Black and Decker raising prices, Ridgid might be a cheaper buy—for now.

Skil

Skill is the budget-friendly offshoot of the more professional-oriented Skilsaw brand. Most of its tools have solid reputations for quality, but are typically cheaper than Black & Decker tools. A 15-amp, 7-1/4 inch circular saw like this one, for example, goes for about $70, whereas a comparable Black and Decker version was listed for about $80. That’s not a huge difference, but with tariff price increases, you can expect that gap to widen a bit.

Hart

Hart is Walmart’s exclusive power tool brand—and as you might imagine, anything sold in Walmart is going to be relatively affordable. You can pick up this cordless 4.5-inch angle grinder for just $50, for example—about half the price of this DeWalt version. One thing to consider when buying Hart power tools is that most of its tools don’t come with batteries, so that’s an added cost—and they aren’t compatible with any other brand’s batteries, so you’re not going to be able to use them interchangeably. But Hart’s quality and performance are pretty decent for the price, making them a great alternative to Black and Decker.

WEN

This brand always comes up in conversations about affordable tools (it’s normal to have those conversations frequently, yes?). If you’re finding Black and Decker tools to no longer be the budget win they once were, WEN is a solid alternative. Its tools are considered well-built, with acceptable performance for the price—and they tend to be cheaper than comparable B&D products. For example, this variable speed jigsaw from WEN will get the job done for less money than this Black and Decker offering.

If your main consideration when buying tools is price, tariffs are going to cause some chaos—but if Black and Decker is pricing you out, you have a few options to look into.