NEW YORK — Cam Schlittler walked off to a warm ovation Friday night at Yankee Stadium. Six-plus innings. Eleven straight batters retired to open the game. ERA now at 1.95.
Ask Cam Schlittler how it went, and you get a shrug. He called the start “pretty solid.” Ask the Royals, and you get something else entirely.
What Schlittler actually did against the Royals
The Yankees needed a response after Schlittler allowed six runs on 12 hits in his previous two starts. Friday delivered.
The first 11 Royals went down in order. Schlittler struck out six, allowed three hits total, and issued two walks — both of which he acknowledged were fixable. Final line: six-plus innings, one unearned run, 93 Yankees season-high pitches, 63 strikes.
The Yankees broke through in the fourth against Michael Wacha. Rice took a changeup over the short porch in right for a two-run homer, his sixth of the season. That gave Schlittler a cushion to work with, and he largely protected it.
The Yankees’ only blemish came in the sixth. Schlittler walked Maikel Garcia with one out. Bobby Witt Jr. hit a deep fly ball toward center field. Trent Grisham got turned around in the wind and the ball bounced off his glove for a two-base error. Garcia scored on a Pasquantino groundout. One run, unearned. Schlittler struck out Salvador Perez to end the inning.
Boone described what he saw on the Grisham play simply.
“I think he got a little turned around, playing the wind a little too much or not enough,” Boone said. “He just didn’t secure it.”
The pitcher’s own modest read on a dominant night
Schlittler walked two batters Friday. That is two more than he issued in his first four starts combined. Still, entering Friday he had thrown just one walk across 21-plus innings. Even with two free passes, the Yankees right-hander has issued just three total walks in 105 batters faced.
Asked whether those two walks concerned him, Schlittler was matter-of-fact. He did not frame them as a problem or a warning sign.
“It happens,” Schlittler said. “I think they were both competitive pitches, so you’ve got to execute and get ahead in the count, then go from there.”
The seventh ended the Yankees starter’s night. Carter Jensen walked, Lane Thomas singled. Two on, nobody out. Yankees manager Aaron Boone came to get him after a season-high workload. Schlittler departed to a warm ovation from the Yankees crowd.
He said he did not feel tired at the end. But the Yankees are managing his buildup carefully after back and lat discomfort in spring.
“I’m still building up,” Schlittler said. “Overall, I felt pretty good.”
Boone offered more credit than his pitcher was willing to give himself. The Yankees manager said he thought Schlittler may have run low on gas in a longer sixth inning, but framed the overall performance in direct terms.
Aaron Boone on shares his thoughts on Ryan McMahon's homer, Ben Rice's offense and Cam Schlittler's outing following the 4-2 win over Kansas City. pic.twitter.com/YHN46mlTEO
“I thought Cam was great,” Boone said. “Maybe he got a little fatigued there at the end; a longer sixth inning. But overall, I thought he was on point and really, really good tonight.”
The opposing dugout said it better than Schlittler would
Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro watched from his own dugout and described the problem his lineup faced.
“Especially the first time you see him, it’s unique,” Quatraro said. “He’s big — 6-foot-6 — it’s a high release. Good extension, good carry. He wasn’t dotting the zone. He throws a ton of strikes, but some of them run more than you think. Some of them cut a little bit more. I mean, it’s a tough at-bat.”
Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino reached on a two-out single in the fourth. He was the only Royals hitter to make real contact all night. Afterward, he didn’t hold back.
“It’s an elite fastball,” Pasquantino said. “He doesn’t shy away from it with the percentages. He does a good job of controlling the top rail of the strike zone and going up above. It’s not that often a guy that tall is able to do the things he was able to do. He’s one of the best pitchers in the game right now.”
A no-decision that still matters for the Yankees
Schlittler did not get the win. Yankees reliever Camilo Doval allowed a tying homer to Pasquantino in the eighth, turning a Yankees lead back into a tie. The win ultimately went to Doval after Ryan McMahon’s pinch-hit two-run homer in the eighth.
The no-decision told a larger Yankees story. After allowing six earned runs over his previous two starts, Schlittler bounced back with his best outing since the season’s first two games. His ERA dropped from 2.49 to 1.95. The Yankees rotation has a legitimate No. 2. The Royals provided the most convincing testimony.
