Cam Schlittler Is Depended Upon As New York Yankees Attempt To Salvage Game 3

Cam Schlittler pitched for the Yankees tonight and had a lot of pressure on him. Schlittler, the fireballing Yankee right-hander and youngster, pitched tonight amid the Yankees’ bullpen melting down the last two nights. The Yankees’ bullpen has surrendered nine earned runs in the last two games. That had never happened before, and the Yankees started playing baseball in 1903.

Indeed, Schlittler has a great deal of pressure on him. He needed to pitch better than he did in his last start, throwing 40 pitches in the first inning against the Blue Jays. Can Schlittler lead the Yankees to a win?

Lineups As Cam Schlittler Faces Biggest Start Of Brief Career

The Detroit Tigers had Gleyber Torres leading off, and he was the second baseman. Kerry Carpenter was the designated hitter and batted second. Riley Greene was the left fielder and batted third. Jahmai Jones replaced him in the sixth inning. Spencer Torkelson was the first baseman and batted fourth. Wenceel Perez was the right fielder and batted fifth.

Colt Keith was the third baseman and batted sixth. Andy Ibanez pinch-hit for him in the eighth inning and stayed in to play third base. Dillon Dingler was the catcher and batted seventh. Parker Meadows was the center fielder and batted eighth. Trey Sweeney replaced him in the fifth inning. He played shortstop. Javier Baez was the shortstop and batted ninth. He moved to center field in the fifth inning.

For the Yankees, Austin Slater played left field and led off. Aaron Judge was the right fielder and batted second.  Cody Bellinger was the center fielder and batted third. Giancarlo Stanton was the designated hitter and batted fourth. Jazz Chisholm Jr. was the second baseman and batted fifth. Paul Goldschmidt was the first baseman and batted sixth. Ben Rice was the catcher and batted seventh. Jose Caballero was the shortstop and batted eighth. Ryan McMahon was the third baseman and batted ninth. 

News and Notes

In the game tonight, on this very special day, the President of the United States threw out the first pitch of the game. Schlitter, who was the starting pitcher for the Yankees, wore an NYPD hat. His father is the Chief of Police in Needham, Massachusetts. Finally, on the television broadcast, the announcers said they toured Ground Zero today. All Yankees wore hats honoring the NYPD and FDNY, New York’s finest and bravest.

The first inning home run for Judge was the 360th home run of his career. He is one home run shy of Joe DiMaggio for fourth place all-time on the Yankees list. Anthony Volpe was not in the starting lineup tonight. He has a sore left shoulder. Cabellero was the starting shortstop for the Yankees. It is just as well, Volpe is hitting near .200 and has made 19 errors this season for the Yankees. Judge homered twice, and Stanton also hit a home run. That one gave Stanton 20 home runs on the year, and gave the Yankees seven players with 20 home runs.

Game Reaction

The first inning was much better for Schlittler tonight than it was in the game against the Toronto Blue Jays, when he threw 40 pitches. He only needed 10 pitches tonight to retire the first three Detroit Tigers batters.

It is fair to wonder if Schlittler has a problem with batters fouling off his pitches. The Blue Jays did that to him, and tonight, in the second inning, Dingler had an 11-pitch at-bat against him.

Scoring Summary

In the first inning, Aaron Judge hit a solo home run. The Yankees led 1-0.  In the second inning, Dingler singled and Perez scored. The game was tied at one. Dingler had an 11-pitch at-bat. In the second inning, Rice doubled, and Chisholm Jr. scored. It was 2-1 Yankees. Then, Carabello singled and Rice scored. The Yankees led 3-1. In the third inning, Judge and Stanton both hit solo home runs. The Yankees led 5-1.

In the fourth inning, Slater singled, and Rice scored. The Yankees led 6-1. Then Belligner singled and Cabarello scored. It was 7-1 Yankees. Then Chisholm Jr. singled, and both Judge and Slater scored. It was 9-1 Yankees.

In the seventh inning, Dingler hit a solo home run. It was 9-2 Yankees. In the ninth inning, Torres grounded out, and Baez scored. It was 9-3 Yankees.

Conclusion

There was a highly charged crowd as Schlittler pitched the biggest game of his short career. President Donald Trump was in attendance. If Schlittler was nervous, one could not tell. He was overpowering tonight in the first inning. Throwing in the upper 90s, Schlittler struck out two batters in the first inning. He needed only 10 pitches to retire the Detroit Tigers in order. Though he gave up a run, he struck out four Tigers in the first two innings, and he struck out 7 Tigers in 6 innings pitched. The Yankees play in Boston tomorrow night.