Once upon a time, when Pittsburgh’s Bryan Reynolds looked like an obvious trade candidate, fans and pundits pegged him as a perfect fit for the Yankees. On Friday, the Pirates’ left fielder – now on a long-term deal – gave the Bronx faithful a taste of what life would have been like had Yankee Stadium become his home. Reynolds went deep twice in the Yankees’ 4-2, series-opening loss. His second dinger, a two-run blast off Tommy Kahnle in the eighth, broke a 2-2 tie. Earlier in the night, Carlos Rodón allowed two earned runs over 5.1 innings of work. The two runs came on back-to-back, sixth-inning homers from Nick Gonzales and Reynolds. Those longballs quickly followed Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s two-run single in the fifth, which put the Yankees on the board. Rodón also totaled four hits, four walks and five strikeouts. Friday marked his final start of the regular season. With 32 on the year, Rodón set a new career-high. He leads the Yankees in games started and innings pitched (175) after three injuries limited him to 14 starts in his first season with the team in 2023. Rodón, expected to start the second or third game of the ALDS, also ended the season with a 16-9 record and a 3.96 ERA. “Overall, I thought he threw the ball pretty well and finished off what was an outstanding regular season for him,” Aaron Boone said. “Just proud of him and all that he’s been through to get to this point and to go out there and make 32 starts for us.” Told of that comment, Rodón said, “That’s really nice coming from the manager. I’m glad he’s proud of me. My goal was to go out there and make every start this year, and I did that.” On offense, the Yankees, sporting a lackluster lineup the night after a division-clinching celebration, didn’t score after Chisholm’s single. The third baseman also stole two bases, giving him 40 on the season, easily a career-high. “It’s the number that we were aiming for all year,” Chisholm said. “It’s a great accomplishment, even though we really wanted to get the win tonight.” Even with the loss, Chisholm said that he thinks the Yankees will be “unstoppable” in the playoffs. “We’re not stopping until we get that ring,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been hearing since I got here, and that’s how I feel too.” Before postseason play begins, the Yankees have two more regular season games against Pittsburgh. Saturday will feature a matchup between the two potential Rookies of the Year, as Pirates phenom Paul Skenes will face Luis Gil in his Yankee Stadium debut. “They’ve got a pretty good stable of young pitchers going over there,” Boone said after the Yankees faced Jared Jones on Friday, “and obviously we’re going to see another one tomorrow.”