Cam Schlittler’s night started with a weird scene at Yankee Stadium and ended with the Yankees getting exactly what they needed from their rookie right-hander.
At 7:05 p.m., everybody was set for first pitch except Schlittler. The Blue Jays were waiting.
The umpires were waiting. The Yankees were waiting.
In the Toronto dugout, Max Scherzer made his frustration obvious by tapping an imaginary watch on his wrist while the delay dragged on. Schlittler finally jogged out, and the reason for the hold-up was never explained.
Whatever caused it, the moment didn’t linger once the game began. Schlittler settled in and worked six innings of one-run ball, and New York beat Toronto 3-1 to move within three games of first-place Tampa Bay in the AL East.
The start wasn’t clean, and Schlittler didn’t try to pretend otherwise. He allowed six hits, walked three and landed just 59 of his 96 pitches for strikes. Toronto kept putting pressure on him, but the Blue Jays only broke through once, when Alejandro Kirk delivered an RBI single in the fifth.
That was as far as they got. Toronto went 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position, and Schlittler kept finding a way out of trouble. His 98 mph four-seamer helped him get Myles Straw to pop up and strand two in the fourth, and he tightened up when the inning demanded it in the fifth and sixth.
“I got deep enough to put this team in position to win, and that’s great. I’m not happy overall with my performance, it could’ve been a lot better. But we won the game and that’s all that matters,” Schlittler said.
He didn’t hide from the mess he created, either.
“I’ve been able to hold runners on base a lot. I don’t appreciate the way they get on, it’s self-inflicted. But being able to get myself out of those jams and trusting the guys behind me makes things a lot easier,” Schlittler added.
Aaron Boone saw a start that was more grind than glide, but he also saw a pitcher who never let it get away from him.
“He kind of struggled tonight, frankly. The fifth and sixth might have been his best innings.
He struggled to get in a rhythm, but he didn’t break. He made some big pitches when he needed to.
Anytime he was backed into a corner, the best of the night came out,” Boone said.
John Schneider came away with the same basic read from the other dugout.
“He’s tough, right? It’s tough to generate extra-base hits.
We were 1-for-14 with guys in scoring position. He’s one of the best pitchers in the league,” Schneider said.
The numbers around Schlittler keep getting louder. Friday was his MLB-leading 19th start of the season in which he allowed one earned run or fewer, tying Fritz Peterson for the third-most such starts by a Yankees pitcher in a single season since earned runs became official in 1913. Only Ron Guidry, with 21 in 1978, and Whitey Ford, with 20 in 1964, are ahead of him.
It was also his 14th game this season with at least six innings and one earned run or fewer, the most in MLB. He’s now at a 2.16 ERA, a 0.96 WHIP and 193 strikeouts across 158 innings.
The outing also snapped a stretch of four straight no-decisions for Schlittler. This time, the Yankees gave him early support, he made the lead stand up, and the bullpen handled the rest. Brent Headrick and Paul Blackburn bridged the game to Devin Bednar, who earned his 30th save, and the Yankees’ relief group has now allowed just one earned run over its last 18⅔ innings.
With the win, New York stretched its run to five straight, and the formula was familiar: run prevention, a battered lineup doing just enough, and Schlittler refusing to let a messy night become a bad one.
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