The Yankees took down the Rockies 5-3 to open the series and clinch a 34th straight season of finishing above .500. AL Cy Young frontrunner Cam Schlittler got the starting nod for the Yankees and faced off against Gabriel Hughes.
“Cy Young, he gotta be a Cy Young,” Heliot Ramos said of Schlittler. “He's so nasty. I love the way he pitches. I love the way he prepares himself. I think his mentality is the best part of him. So I can't wait to keep seeing him and looking forward to seeing him in the playoffs too.”
Schlittler worked a nice and easy 1-2-3 top of the first inning and recorded his first two strikeouts of the ballgame.
Ben Rice was plunked to leadoff the ballgame, then Cody Bellinger replaced him on the basepaths due to a fielder's choice. Aaron Judge struck out in his first at-bat of the IL and was given a standing ovation prior to his at-bat. Luis Garcia Jr. dunked a two-out bloop single into left field, and a couple of E7’s allowed Belli to score, giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead.
“I thought he looked really good,” Aaron Boone said of Judge. “First at-bat, I thought he was getting himself into good positions. I thought he made good swing decisions. He just missed a couple of sliders in that at-bat, where before they beat him with the fastball there. I thought, I thought he looked like Judgey. You know, obviously there'll be some time getting the timing and rhythm and everything.”
In the top of the second, Schlittler retired the Rockies in order and picked up two more strikeouts to work a shutdown inning.
The Rockies tied the game in the top of the third inning thanks to a solo shot from Adael Amador.
Judge flew out to leadoff the bottom of the fourth inning, as he, Garcia and Spencer Jones went three up, three down.
Schlittler set down the Rockies in order in the top half of the fifth inning and notched his seventh strikeout of the ballgame.
With one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, George Lombard Jr. shot a single into right field. Ryan McMahon followed with an RBI double into right field to give the Yankees a 2-1 advantage.
Schlittler navigated around a two-out single in the top of the sixth and picked up two more strikeouts to put his total up to nine and work a shutdown inning.
In Judge's third at-bat of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, he went down on strikes to finish his night as Heliot Ramos replaced him on defense in the top of the seventh inning.
“He wasn't really pleased with me for taking him,” Boone said.
Schlittler allowed a leadoff single in the seventh, but picked up the next three outs and recorded his 10th strikeout of the night.
Brent Headrick replaced Schlittler on the mound in the top of the eighth and worked a 1-2-3 inning with a couple of strikeouts.
Final line for Schlittler: Seven innings pitched, three hits allowed, one earned run, didn't walk anybody, and struck out 10 on 96 pitches. He threw his fastball 50% of the time, the cutter 26%, the curveball 13%, and the sinker 11%. Schlittler topped out at 100.5 mph, sitting at 97.9 mph on his heater, and had 19 whiffs.
“They got a great lineup, so just being able to establish the fastball, get to my spots,” Schlittler said. “Defense is great behind me.”
The Yankees tacked on three huge insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning thanks to a three-run shot from Ramos to extend the lead to 5-1.
“So honestly, I saw a runner in second and third; I was just trying to put the ball in the air, honestly,” Ramos said. “I was trying to get a good pitch to hit, put the ball in the air so we could give us a little bit more leeway in the game.”
Tim Hill got the call for the bottom of the ninth. Jazz Chisholm Jr. made a nice play for the first out of the inning, but he did have to leave the game with an injury. It looked like Jazz jammed his thumb sliding into second base the inning prior. Hill picked up the second out, then walked a batter, followed by a two-run home run from Hunter Goodman to cut the Yankees' lead to 5-3 and make it a save situation. The Yankees closer, David Bednar, took over and picked up a three-pitch strikeout to give the Yankees the win and record his 32nd save of the season.
The Yankees will look to win the series tomorrow with Will Warren on the mound, facing off against Tomoyuki Sugano. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. ET on the YES Network.
My thoughts on the game: Nice win for the Yankees, and it was really nice having Judge back, although he didn't have a great night, going 0-for-3 with a couple of strikeouts. But he didn't play in any rehab games, so I expect him to be a little rusty in his first week. Schlittler was unbelievable tonight, as he has been all year long, as he had double-digit strikeouts, delivering his 23rd quality start of the season and lowering his ERA to 2.01. Headrick worked an easy eighth inning with a pair of punchouts; his ERA is now down to 1.87. Tough night for Hill, as he allowed a home run and forced the Yankees to bring in Bednar to pick up one out. Bednar picked up one out on just three pitches. He has been awesome this year after a rough start; the Yankees have to find a way to re-sign him in the offseason. Jazz had a nice night with a couple of hits, but he did leave the game in the ninth inning. Hopefully he is okay; he has been starting to heat up a little offensively. Garcia also had a couple of hits tonight; he has been a great trade deadline acquisition, hitting .296 with a .817 OPS. McMahon delivered an RBI double to give the Yankees the lead in the fifth. And Ramos, in his one at-bat tonight, made the most of it, crushing a three-run home run to give the Yankees some much-needed insurance runs. On to tomorrow as the Yankees will look to win the series.
“He's a great player, great teammate, great captain,” Schlittler said of Judge. “So it's exciting to have him back and expect him to kind of pick things up where he left off.”