Daily Report – 9/3/26
Yankees
Cam Schlittler lives on an island. The only question is whether he can sustain his one-of-a-kind success down the stretch and in the playoffs.
In eight innings against the Angels last night, Schlittler allowed one run on two hits, zero walks, and nine strikeouts. He lowered his season ERA to 2.04 and his road ERA to 1.14, the lowest by any pitcher in their first 16 road starts in American League history.
Even better, Schlittler clinched the most starts (19) allowing one run or fewer in a single season in Yankees history, passing Rod Guidry, Whitey Ford, and Jack Chesbro. He is also the third player in MLB history, and the first since 1968, to strike out over 100 batters and have an ERA under 1.15 through 13 road games.
But Schlittler doesn’t care about the accolades. He doesn’t even care if he wins the Cy Young Award this season. All he cares about is helping this team win the World Series, and last night, his efforts led to a 6-3 win.
Schlittler’s command was exceptional, and his velocity was on point. He struck batters out with each of his four pitch types, including six with his fastball, which averaged 98 mph. He didn’t have to do anything extra to get through eight innings; his pitch mix, spin rates, and velocities were all at their usual levels.
“I thought his command was really good; strike throwing was excellent again,” manager Aaron Boone said of Schlittler, whose only blemish yesterday was a game-tying home run by Vaughn Grissom in the seventh inning, which would have stayed inside Yankee Stadium.
“I think he combined that strike-throwing with the stuff we’ve seen all along,” Boone added. “When he’s putting the ball where he wants, he’s really tough to hit. He was on the attack all night and dictating counts.”
For most of the game, Schlittler fought in a pitchers’ duel with Reid Detmers. The lefty gave the Yankees fits at the plate, striking out eight batters in seven one-run innings. The Yankees broke through in the fourth inning, as Amed Rosario’s ground-rule double knocked in a run, but that was it.
Once extra innings arrived, though, everything changed. With Rosario at second base, Spencer Jones struck out swinging, unable to move him over. Then, José Caballero singled, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked, loading the bases for Luis García Jr., who popped up in the infield.
García’s pop-out felt like it killed all hopes of a rally, especially with Austin Wells due up. The catcher has a .184 batting average and a .597 OPS this season. But in his last 30 games, he has improved significantly, batting .270 with a .783 OPS.
This time, with two strikes, two outs, and the bases loaded, Wells had his best moment of the season. He reached for a high fastball and poked it through the right side of the infield for a two-run single.
When asked about the changes he’s made offensively, Wells said, “A lot of it was just understanding where my swing was at and how I was missing, whether it was actually missing or just fouling stuff off I should be hitting. That awareness has helped for sure.
“[I’ve been] grinding at-bats out, trying to see pitches, and trying not to miss when they throw it in a zone that I can hit.”
At the start of the season, Yankees fans were begging for Wells to become a serviceable hitter. Over the last month, he has become dependable, something the Yankees have needed desperately, especially after failing to acquire a catcher at the trade deadline.
“You feel like he’s that threat down [in the lineup] again,” Boone said. “That’s massive. One of the things that’s plagued us at times this year when we’ve gone through some struggles offensively is just not having that length, and too many easy innings in the nine.
“As we get more guys starting to swing it, we can become the offense we believe we can be.”
After Wells put the Yankees ahead 3-1 with his heroic hit, Cody Bellinger added on, capping his second straight three-hit night with an RBI single. The left fielder returned from the injured list on August 23. In his last seven games, he is a whopping 12-for-29 (.414). He went 8-for-14 (.571) this week in Anaheim.
Up 4-1, Trent Grisham and Ben Rice laced consecutive hits to put the Yankees ahead 6-1. For the first time since MLB instituted the ghost runner rule in 2020, the Yankees scored five or more runs in an extra inning, and everybody contributed.
“That’s where we’re at in the season,” Boone said. “Everyone’s got to be ready every single day because, even if you’re not in the lineup, as we’ve seen a lot here lately, you may be up in the most important spot in the game.”
The Angels tried to fight back in the bottom of the 10th, and things got hairy when Junior Valentine ejected Boone and Matt Blake for arguing a checked swing call. Then, with one out, Moisés Ballesteros homered off Michael Fulmer to make it 6-3.
But Fulmer brushed it off and retired his next two batters.
This victory was especially important because the Yankees started the game already aware that the Mets had beaten the Rays. So, the Yankees moved within 3.5 games of Tampa Bay for first place and extended their lead over Boston to 5.0 games.
The Yankees are off today, but tomorrow, they will start a three-game series against the Padres in San Diego.
Cover Image Courtesy: New York Yankees
