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Eduardo Rodriguez 'Just Couldn't Hit The Spots,' Allows Four Homers In Second Start Of Season

BOSTON (CBS) -- Eduardo Rodriguez attributed his bizarre pitching line Sunday against the Blue Jays - 5.2 innings with 4 hits, all home runs, and zero strikeouts - to poor command at the wrong times.

"I just couldn't hit the spots when it counted," Rodriguez told reporters after the game. "Four hits, four home runs. I tried to throw the ball where I wanted, but sometimes, you miss badly."

Rodriguez allowed a total of five earned runs. He gave up home runs to Jose Bautista leading off the game in the first inning, Darwin Barney and Edwin Encarnacion in the third, and Russell Martin in the sixth. He said after the game that he wanted to spot the ball on the outer half of the plate and paid for it when leaving pitches over the middle.

Pitching coach Carl Willis believes that Rodriguez, who is throwing significantly fewer sliders (6.9 percent in 2016, compared to 11.6 percent in 2015), should mix up his arsenal more often to make it harder for major league hitters to predict his pitches.

"You have to disrupt their balance," said Willis. "[Rodriguez] has the weapons to do that."

Two things that have not been an issue with Rodriguez are his velocity and health. He is consistently hitting 92-94 with his fastball and he told reporters that his healed knee feels fine. Willis said that he believes Rodriguez's current problems, including mechanics with his delivery, are fixable.

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