Yankees

Yankees Waste Cam Schlittler Gem in Brutal 2-1 Extra-Inning Loss to Braves

By ••3 min read
Yankees Waste Cam Schlittler Gem in Brutal 2-1 Extra-Inning Loss to Braves

This is the type of game the Yankees simply have to win.

Cam Schlittler gave them seven dominant innings. He struck out 11. He allowed three hits. He walked nobody. He spent most of Sunday afternoon making Atlanta hitters look uncomfortable at Yankee Stadium.

And somehow the Yankees still walked away with a 2-1 loss in 10 innings.

That’s not on Schlittler. Not even close.

This one belongs squarely on an offense that once again couldn’t produce enough when given opportunities.

Schlittler Was Absolutely Filthy

Schlittler continues to look less like a young pitcher figuring things out and more like somebody who belongs near the front of this rotation.

The right-hander went seven innings, allowing just one earned run on three hits while striking out 11. He threw 96 pitches, 67 for strikes, and Atlanta had very little going against him.

The only real damage came in the seventh inning when Matt Olson jumped on a 100-mph fastball and drove it out to right-center for his 34th home run of the season.

That’s baseball. You challenge a hitter like Olson with 100 mph and sometimes he gets you.

But one run in seven innings?

Your offense has to pick up that pitcher.

Another Day Of Wasted Opportunities

The Yankees finished with four hits.

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Four.

They had their best opportunity in the sixth when Austin Wells reached on an infield single and Trent Grisham doubled, putting runners at second and third.

Ben Rice lined out. Heliot Ramos struck out.

Nothing.

That sequence basically told the story of the afternoon.

New York has now been held to one run 20 times this season and has finished with four hits or fewer 17 times. You can talk about pitching matchups, great defensive plays and everything else, but eventually somebody has to drive a runner home.

Grisham Gives Them Life

Trent Grisham finally broke through in the eighth.

With two outs, Grisham launched a solo homer to right field off Didier Fuentes, tying the game at 1-1 and giving Yankee Stadium some life.

Grisham finished 2-for-4 with the homer and a double. Unfortunately, almost everybody around him disappeared offensively.

Ben Rice went 0-for-4. Ramos went 0-for-4. Luis García Jr. went 0-for-4. George Lombard Jr. went 0-for-4.

You’re not winning many games that way.

Extras Continue To Be A Disaster

Paul Blackburn handled the ninth, but Michael Harris II opened the 10th by grounding an RBI single into right field, scoring automatic runner Ha-Seong Kim and putting Atlanta ahead 2-1.

The Yankees still had their chance.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. started the bottom of the 10th at second base.

Spencer Jones popped out.

Lombard grounded out.

Ryan McMahon struck out.

Game over.

The Yankees are now an ugly 2-9 in extra-inning games.

Schlittler did his job. The bullpen did its job. Grisham gave them the one big swing they needed to stay alive.

The offense didn’t finish the job.

And when your starting pitcher gives you seven innings like that, there really isn’t much else to say.

You wasted one.

You can drop this right near the end:

The loss drops the Yankees to 66-52 on the season. They still took two of three from Atlanta, but instead of finishing off the sweep, New York walks away having wasted one of Cam Schlittler’s best starts of the year.

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